The Path that Moonbeams Make
by Avdal
Summary: "Do you know why I chose you, Rey?" Kylo asks. "Why I picked you out of all the women presented to me?" Kylo strokes her cheek and she slaps his hand away. Crown Prince of Alderaan or not, Rey wants absolutely nothing to do with her new husband. "Ah, there it is, Rey," he says lowly. "There's that same look you gave me when I tried to kiss you. Truly you will make a fine wife."
1. When Stars Light up the Sky

author's note:

For thevagabondthoughts who has been kept waiting on this prompt for literally 10,000 years. Literally. The earth was a lot cooler and less crowded when she prompted me with an Arabian Nights esque AU.

Rey's new husband had told her the guards were there to protect her. She didn't believe him for a second.

No, the escort of heavily armed and supernaturally inclined guards that shadowed her every step through the palace were there for one purpose and one alone: _to keep her from running away_.

Five hours. That's how long it had been. They had been married for less than _five hours_ , and now she was already her husband's prisoner. This was worse than she had been bracing herself for.

Their ceremony had been gaudy. Tactless and appalling in its grandeur. Rey hadn't wanted to be there. Hadn't wanted to marry at all, let alone be married to _him_.

Her family had needed her to do this, though. Marrying the Crown Prince of Alderaan would secure their collapsing future. They had all come to the wedding. Her uncle, her friends, and a slew of cousins both near,distant, and presumed but not proven to even be truly related to her. They had all been in attendance for the momentous occasion of watching her marry a prince when she would rather be out in the desert wastes picking through wreckage.

Her new husbands wives had also been there.

That had been the final straw. That's when it had crossed the line from 'I'll do it because I have to' all the way to 'I hate you and I'll never forgive you for this'. Rey had known that the Prince had been married before, but there were _dozens_ of them. Every look they gave her on her way down the aisle was a calculated smile covering up focused malice.

Maybe the guards had really been there for her protection after all?

"This way, m'lady."

It was the first time the guards had spoken, despite Rey's first initial attempts to coax them into smalltalk. If she could make them like her… maybe they would let her go. Maybe they would let her run away. Or maybe at least they would give her a longer leash to hang herself on.

Rey picks up the pace again, following them when it's clear that escape will have to take another way. The halls of the Alderaan High Palace were vast. A seemingly endless network of twists and turns. Easy to get lost in. Easy to hide in.

It offered her possibilities.

"Are we close?" she asks, hugging herself.

Rey pulls her dressing gown tighter as the cold starts to seep in through the layers of silk. She wasn't wearing much under it. The attendants hadn't _let_ her wear much. All the better to present herself as a present bought and wrapped tonight.

The head guard, the one that had spoken all of three words to her, nods. Speaks no fourth.

At least none of the harpy eyed sister wives were around to enhance her misery as she's escorted in monotonous silence.

Their wedding ceremony had ended abruptly and on a sour note for both the newlyweds. To any of the multitude of onlookers, they had kissed behind the shield of her veil and formally sealed her fate. Only she and her 'husband' knew the truth that she had turned her head at the last moment. Let him kiss her painted cheek rather than her lips.

He'd pulled away and the look in his eyes had told her he wasn't happy. Pity.

"To the right, m'lady."

They had reached a crossroads in an open courtyard. High above Rey's head shines the moon and stars, and the paths under her feet is smooth white brick cutting a line through plumes of flowers. Their heady scent hangs low in the air, making for a pleasant break from the dark bleakness of the earlier halls.

Should Rey survive the night without murdering her husband and condemning herself to a life on the run, she would like to come back here.

The next part of the palace is different. It skips the cold austerity of the earlier halls and replaces it was something more intimate. The walls are lined with velvet. _Velvet_. Rey has never seen something so decadent and she can't resist running her hand across it as they walk. It's both cool and soft against her fingers. Welcoming and-

Rey pulls away as a warmth rises to her cheeks. If her impeccably trained guards take notice, they hide it well.

There are voices here too. Women's voices that echo with laughter or low, hushed tones of talk. Rey listens as they walk, trying to catch even an edge of a conversation.

Her name. The new wife. That lowland trash picker.

Rey's cheeks begin to burn for a whole new reason. Her heritage was a sore spot for everyone except for herself. And, seemingly, for her husband. Kylo had picked her out personally. He had taken a shine to her right away, literal desire at first sight. Out of all the young women she had been presented with, all decked out and lined up waiting with breathless hope or bitter _don't you dare_ , he had just had to choose her.

Right now, if she hadn't just gotten wedded, she would be out in the desert picking through trash. Her skin would be chapped by wind, her fingers numb from the cold and sharp edges, and she would be _free_.

The women's voices rise higher. Another bend in the hallway and Rey can see deep red light spilling out from an open door. As the guards bring her past she pauses and they stop with her.

Inside is… is a place like none she's ever seen before. The room is dimly lit but altogether inviting. Incense hangs in the air, its smoke reflecting off the fire and the tinted lanterns. Soft music plays and _oh_ , that's where the other wives have gone to.

Curiosity bites at Rey's heels and she takes a step closer, craning her neck to see in. The guards stay rigid in place, each of them having their head dropped and gazing at the floor between their feet. Truly well trained indeed.

Another step, and Rey can see around the corner pillar. She bites back a gasp. Many, not all, but many of the women are naked or nearly so. Some are decked in jewels with nothing else. Other are wearing simple dresses even more sheer than the one Rey has on herself under her robe.

But it's not the romping nudity that surprises her, it's the _activities_ they're indulging in. Two men, both dressed like very high ranking Alderaan nobility, are seated along a plush couch that runs the full length of the far wall. They are surrounded by the wives and being… touched by them. One has her head in the man's lap and his hand is tangled in her hair. The other has her back to Rey but there is an unmistakable sort of movement to her body and-

A blonde woman, tall and voluptuous and wearing nothing but a glittering necklace that cascades down her ample chest, steps of from the sidelines and blocks Rey's view. She smiles at her, but there is absolutely nothing warm or welcoming to the expression. Predatory, almost. She closes the door in Rey's face, leaving her in the quiet dimness of the hallways once more.

She hadn't seen her new husband in there. At least there was that. Otherwise Rey isn't sure what she would have done but it would have been very poorly thought out.

But he shares his wives with other men? Rey hadn't been expecting that. Would that be her fate as well then?

Her husband, it seemed, was a filthy, greedy pig. She hated him and she didn't want to lay with him tonight.

Tough.

No one cares about that.

"Let's go," she whispers.

The guards move again, bringing her to a bedroom door far closer to the entrance to the harem than she would have preferred.

Then they leave her, departing once she has been safely tucked inside her new bedroom. The sound of the door locking behind her before silence is quite possibly the worst noise Rey has ever heard in her life.

Her heart starts to pound in her ears as she takes in the conditions of her new cage. It's a beautiful and opulent room, of course, but the windows have bars over them. So her husband may be cruel, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew she wanted to fly, fly away. Rey had really rather hoped he was an idiot. It would have made things so much easier.

There's nothing of _her_ here. Nothing that she likes or wants. The shelves are covered with musical instruments or cosmetics or paints and paper. Activities for those with a vapid mind and better manners than she ever learned.

And there's a single rose laying on the pillow of the bed, it's bright pink petals contrasting strangely with the heavy black brocade of the sheets. No message, no sign, just a gift from her new husband.

Rey can't bring herself to crush it like she wants to. It was pretty. Had she found it in her old life, she would have kept it. For that reason alone she consigns it into a drawer where she won't have to look at it as it fades Now all that is left is to pace and wait for her husband to return.

Somehow she's sure he won't keep her waiting for long.

* * *

"I will not be one of your painted whores. If that's all you see in me, then send me away now and let's end this charade."

Kylo's face remains the same portrait of cold detachment, but Rey can feel a shift in the air between them. This apparently was not the wedding night conversation he had in mind.

"You have too much malice for a newlywed, my dear Rey. I take it our wedding was not to your liking?"

Rey crosses her arms over her chest. Despite the heavy fabric of her dressing gown and the fire in the corner, all Rey can feel is the iciness between them.

Everything about her husband infuriates her. From the way he came into her bedroom without even a knock to how he had disregarded each of her insults to his character. The encounter with the other wives, brief and mute though it was, had left a bitter taste in her mouth that had made it all too easy for her to say what she really thought of him.

"You're selfish, you're lecherous, and you're greedy," she spits. "No woman should have to endure a husband such as you."

Kylo tips his head and nods. He circles her slowly and Rey squeezes her hands into tight fists to keep herself from cringing when he reaches out.

"What else?"

His hand is warm on her shoulder, though. He tries to turn her to face him and she holds her ground, staring rigidly ahead.

"What else?" she raises an eyebrow but pulls her chin free of his hand. "Do you really want me to list all of your flaws, husband _?_ If you were expecting anything else, perhaps you should go to one of _them_ tonight and leave me in peace."

Kylo pulls away then. She stares at him from the corner of her eyes, her scowl deepening begins to pace back and forth.

"Oh is that what this is about, _wife?_ You're jealous of the others already?"

Rey chokes on her next breath. She spins to glare at him, feeling her temper rapidly spiraling out of hand.

"Jealous? How could I poss- what would I have to be jealous of? Your kennel of well groomed playthings have nothing that I could ever possibly want. "

Something occurs to her then, as she watches her husband pace with a barely contained show of annoyance. Kylo's father had not been king, but he was infamously known. Regarded by many as both a hero and a vagabond, while it had been her husband's mother who had achieved the greatest fame and support of her people.

"How many wives did your father have?" Rey asks, changing direction. "As many or maybe even more as you, I would wager."

Kylo swallows. Rey watches the swell of his throat bob up and down. For a fleeting moment, she thinks she sees more in him. That there's someone deeper in there behind his cold mask.

"Just the one," he finally says, "my mother. They loved each other, but their relationship was difficult. Sometimes I wonder if they weren't… if things could have gone differently.

He turns to her then, closing the distance between them until Rey has to crane her neck up to meet his eyes.

"Do you know why I chose you, Rey?" he asks. "Why I picked you out of the hundreds of other women my kingdom presented to me?"

Rey narrows her eyes. Glares at the moon peaking through the bars in the window. Just a week ago she could have felt the light on her skin during one of her nighttime scavenges.

"I suppose it was because I caught your lustful eye, wasn't it?" she argues back. "Perhaps you wanted a new toy in my color, or maybe you simply could tell I despised you and you wanted the challenge."

Truth be told, Rey has no idea why she was chosen. There had been so many other girls who could have better suited his needs, though she doubts the last of her accusations. He seems to be genuinely perturbed by her dismissal of him.

"No, Rey, my wife." His hand falls on her shoulder and bounces with her as she tries to shrug him off. "It was because I saw you the day before you were presented to me. You were out there in the open desert, leaping from one towering pile of wreckage to another without even a flicker of hesitation or fear. You were brave. You were beyond brave. And you were very beautiful."

He narrates his story with a sweep of his open palm through the air almost as if he's trying to make a shadow reenactment.

Rey frowns, noticing that he's leaning closer and closer to her space.

"What about it?" she says. "That is my life. That's what I had to do to survive and help my family."

His hand drops. It falls close to her own but doesn't touch.

"I had watched you as you disappeared into the distance, and immediately I sensed a connection. That's why I had you brought to me. I'd asked in the village for more about you, and it was your uncle himself who told me all I needed to know. He showed me that you were both brave, and loyal, and very clever. These were three things that I have come to highly prize in a wife."

Any mention of his other wives flashes her mind back to the ease of anger.

"How many of the rest of them are like that?" she says, hastily backing away again. "How many more will you need after me?"

Kylo smiles. It's the first time she has seen him smile. He certainly wasn't smiling during their wedding. In fact, he had been rather dour and somber throughout the whole spectacle affair.

"Do you not think we are the same, Rey? Because I see you as my balance, despite our differences. Why can't you extend the same courtesy to me, when you only know my reputation and not my truth?"

Loathe as she is to admit any weakness to her husband, his words confound her. What value could any of that nonsense he just spouted have to him?

"I don't understand," Rey says with reluctance.

Kylo husband leans closer. Close enough that Rey can smell him. Perhaps it just because she's used to the stink of sweaty flesh laboring in the sun, but in contrast he smells quite… not unpleasant.

"That was why I chose you, Rey. I chose you because, even from that distance as you leaped from one level of the ship to another, I could see the fire in your eyes. I knew you were different. And then, when you were presented to me, you were the only one that met my gaze with anything other than need. A need for my money, a need for the security of position. No, you looked at me with a challenge. Daring me to risk choosing you."

Something twists inside Rey's chest. For a second she forgets how to breathe, then she exhales in a short snort of indignation.

"So that's it, then? I'm a challenge? That's why I was chosen? So you would have the thrill of breaking me?"

Kylo reaches out to stroke her cheek and she slaps his hand away without thinking about it. Then she gulps and freezes. Striking a prince, even if he's her _husband_ , might be considered grounds for a rather drastic punishment.

"There it is, Rey," he says lowly, his gaze darting from her eyes to her lips then back. "There's that same look you gave me when I tried to kiss you during our ceremony. Truly you will make a fine wife."

He steps back then and, to her infinite annoyance, strides over to her bed and flops down on it, spreading himself out with an exaggerated sigh of great comfort.

"An equal?" she says. "No. You lie. No man who has dozens of wives is seeking an equal, he's simply seeking a stroke to his ego. Now get off my bed, your boots are getting dirt on the sheets."

She grabs his ankle and tugs. He flops his foot from side to side, then cross one ankle over the other.

"Sit with me," he says, reaching out and catching her wrist.

"No!"

She tries to pull away. He holds tighter. Waits until she really starts to struggle to tug her off balance and yank her down to the mattress next to him.

Then he lets her go and it would be an unacceptable show of weakness to sprint away now. No, she can't show him that he bothers her at all. She has so little power here that the least she can do is hold onto her indifference.

"You're an arrogant pig," she snaps.

"And you're a lowly garbage picker who doesn't realize yet that I only seek an equal, not a conquest."

"Do you really have such a low opinion of me?" he asks, voice quite causal despite the nature of his question. "I'm sure you shall correct me if I'm wrong, but I see nothing that I've done to foster such contempt."

Rey tries to recoil but his hand on her wrist holds her tight.

"You've taken me away from my family!" she nearly shouts. "From the people who actually cared about me! You will keep me here in a gilded cage even though you know this is nothing that I want!"

His hand lets her wrist go then. She pulls it close to her chest, rubbing her skin to scrub off the feeling of his touch.

"Wrong."

His tone is clipped, and his eyes are tired.

"No."

"You are, Rey. Very wrong. I have saved both you and your family. Through our marriage they will have safety and security and you will have a break from the life that has made you so bitter."

Indignation swells up in her. She moves to stand and he sits up, resting his palm on the inside of her thigh.

"You _are_ afraid, Rey. I can see it and don't deny it. Maybe you think you are above me, then? Is that it? That we are not equals at all, because I'm too low for you now?"

He is doing nothing but resting against her, two layers of fabric separating her from the contact, but her face blooms into a deep blush despite herself.

"Or perhaps that's not it," his hand moves an inch higher, stopping when she catches it in her palm. "Perhaps you're afraid you won't be able to please me? Could that be why you take such exception to your new sisters?"

Oh- Now _that_ -

"You are an arrogant pig!" she snaps. "Do you think any of those women actually want to be with you? I can assure you that they don't'! I can assure you that every last one of them-"

"Is only here because of the money and power and prestige their title gives them?" he interrupts. "Yes, Rey, I'm quite aware of that. Some of them are less greedy than others. Some are less _lecherous_ in the simple needs of the flesh. But they are all vacant, cruel seductresses. Is it so wrong that I finally have realized I wish to seek something more?"

Rey twists her hand, trying to pick up his fingers to draw them off her. He simply threads their fingers together, linking their hands in a gesture far more intimate then their first failed kiss as husband and wive had felt.

"I think there are things you could gain from me as well, Rey," he continues when she falls silent. "I am more than simply my family's wealth and power. I could make a generous husband to you, if you would only let me."

His thumb strokes along her knuckles. Rey wonders if he can feel the pounding of her heart through her skin.

"You're trembling," he says quietly.

Then he leans forward, his forehead resting lightly on her shoulder, and his breath fans across the narrow stripe of bared skin along the collar of her robe.

She swallows, her throat suddenly very dry.

"I am your prisoner," she manages to say.

He shakes his head, his hair rustling softly against the heavy fabric of her robe.

"No. You're free to go anytime you like."

"I heard the lock when I was put in here."

"It locks on the inside out and it _is_ for your own protection. My other wives- some of them were not so happy to hear of your impending arrival. And I have many enemies as a gift from my heritage. I will ask you to stay in the safety of your room, but I don't require it."

His hand shifts, wrapping over her own more completely.

"I can go?" she asks quickly. "I can go tonguing? I don't have to… to lay with you, then?"

Her husband falls silent. Rey can't see his expression beyond the wall of his dark hair.

"You are different than the others," he says after a long moment of silent. "I don't want you to leave, I haven't gotten bored of you yet."

When he lifts his head up, he looks like a different man. His face is colder, his gaze shaper. His hand holds hers tightly now, keeping her where she is as she tries to pull away.

"You may go, Rey," he continues. "But know that it comes with a price. Trust me when I say joining me in bed is far less of an evil then you willingly inflicting the shame and hardships of you abandoning your role upon your family."

It's a threat. Not even a veiled one, but close to outright.

However, the moment her expression changes from mortified and confused to afraid, his soften back in turn.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm sorry I can't be the husband you want. That I can't be a sophisticated intellectual above the matters like you are. But I'm afraid, dear wife, that you are stuck with me for the next month and I think we should find a way to make the best of it until then."

She frowns and pulls on her arm. This time he lets her go and she scoots back to the edge of the bed away from him.

"A month?" she asks. "What happens in a month?"

"Then I will let you go peacefully. _Without_ consequences, this time. You will be free to use your title as my wife and go and do as you see fit. I believe you will find it will open up many doors for you."

Suspicion rises in her and she eyes him warily. He sighs and slumps back, resting on his elbows against the mattress as he watches her.

"You're lying," she accuses. "You're tricking me."

He shakes his head.

"No, Rey. I will make a deal with here and now: you will stay with me willingly for one month. Just one month. You will treat me as a wife treats her husband and then, at the end of this, I will give you your choice to leave. But I should hope by then I may have swayed you to stay."

She stares at him in open-mouthed disbelief. Is he telling the truth? Because if he's not then he's essentially stealing her virginity away from her then casting her aside.

"darling… you're catching flies."

He reaches out to lightly tap her jaw closed and cradle her cheek. She doesn't trust the heated look in his eyes. Doesn't trust her new husband _period_.

"Do you promise?" she asks.

"Yes."

"Swear to me."

His eyes harden, and again he looks at her mouth before back up.

"I swear, my dear shrewish wife, that you will give me just one month of your attention and then you will free to go and be gone forever."

He offers her his other hand. Rey stares at it, feeling off balance from the sheer weight of the deal she's about to make.

"One month," she repeats, reaching out tentatively.

"One month."

Her hand touches his. It's a weak handshake at best.

"Thirty-one days," she says, pulling back immediately. "How bad could it be? I could endure anything for thirty-one days."

Abruptly, he smiles. It's an almost silly smile, one that seems completely incompatible with the deep frown lines etched into his still young face.

"Thank you for that, Rey. Exactly what every husband longs to here from his wife on their marital bed. Now close your eyes, there's something more I still want from you."

His hand waves over her face, beckoning her to obey him. Rey scowls because it seems right. Scowls to let him know that, if he's thanking about flipping her over and ravishing her right now, he'd best prepare himself for a most cold physical reception indeed.

His lips are warm on her own, though.

A kiss. A _proper_ kiss, this time, but just a kiss and nothing more.

The bed creaks as his weight leaves it.

Rey remains motionless. Then the lock to her bedroom door clunks and her eyes pop open of their own accord.

"That's- where are you going?"

He smiles at her question.

"Goodnight, Rey. Tomorrow I will send for you. Until then, sleep well."

When he leaves the door locks behind him. Rey freezes, waiting and listening. Nothing. No trap is immediately sprung, but that doesn't mean it doesn't await her at any moment.

She walks silently to the door, a quietness to her movements that she has honed over the course of many an encounter with a desert beastie. When she turns the doorknob, she holds her breath.

It clunks. It opens.

The hallway is dark save for a few candles burning high on the walls. In the near distance is the lyrical laugh of her new sisters.

Rey closes the door again and sinking to her knees, slumping against it.

She will try to keep her promise. Try to force herself to stay for a full month. She has a feeling, though, that it won't be at all as easy as her husband had made it sound.

* * *

Author's note:

So? Off to an interesting start? This fic is going to be a very irregular update schedule, unfortunately. I'm about to head out off the grid as I often do and this time it's at my family's log cabins in rural Idaho with no phones or electricity or internet but I'm taking my solar panels and alphasmart and will type and update when I can :)

We're looking at 3-5 chapters, I think. Maybe MAYBE up to 7, but right now my outline's at 3-5 and that feels right.

And, like with my other story today, I've made an accompanying pic for for this fic on tumblr. I can't post it directly here on fanfictiondotnet but it's on my profile at lost-inthesunlight dot tumblr dot com ;)

ps. And no, the bitchy blonde woman who closed the door on Rey's face wasn't Phasma, just had to make that clear because I love Phasma! No, she's just an OC who's going to stir up drama for Rey, so insert any blonde Playboy model type you dislike to your vision of her character ;)


	2. So that's how its going to be is it?

Summary:

Where Rey gets an unexpected gift and then meets her lovely new sisters.

* * *

Rey wanted to say that she didn't sleep a wink last night.

That was a lie. She didn't like to lie, especially to herself, unless she absolutely had to.

Truth be told, she had _never_ slept better. It was annoying.

She had spent the first few minutes of waking simply laying in bed, feeling the softens under her and the warm air around her. This was dangerous. This kind of thing was acceptable to indulge in once in a blue moon, but it would make her soft. Compliant. Make her start to ask herself things like _why couldn't it always be like this?_

And then came a knock at her door- and Rey had already claimed the small confines of the luxurious prison as _her_ space, thank you very much- and the guards announced that her husband had come to see her.

Really? _Really_?

It was barely even dawn. Rey had just heard the first morning's prayer right before the rap on the heavy door. So her 'husband' wasn't a religious man, then. Hardly a surprise, given his lack of morality in other areas.

The rap comes again. She answers with a lilting 'who is it?' just to annoy him because, somehow, she just _knows_ that it's him behind the door waiting for her to let him in. Knows without knowing, but she'll contemplate how exactly that's even possible some other time because, right now, she hears the lock moving and turning without her.

So he has his own key. Of course he does. She had neglected to include that in their terms last night.

Kylo Ren, Crown Prince of Alderaan, her _husband_ , stomps inside her bedroom with a grandly regal swish of hideously decadent court robes and a severe case of bedhead. She may have slept like a spoiled baby last night, but whatever he had been getting up to apparently had been far less restful.

"You honor me with your presence so early, beloved."

Rey doesn't hold back the cloying notes of insincerity in her voice. Had she been fully awake she might have tried to be more tactful, but now all she can do is grab her dressing gown from the foot of her bed where she'd tossed it and wrap it around herself as her husband paces.

He turns to her after she slides out of bed and stands to face him.

"Since you're such an intellectual young lady," he says, "one so far above the dirty matters of the flesh, I have brought you an intellectual gift."

There is no mistaking the matching condescension in Kylo's tone, and Rey wrinkles her nose up in defense. Still, she bites back the start of a retort as he pulls a small wrapped item out of the silk pouch slung across his shoulders.

"A gift?" she asks. Fidgets.

The scavenger in her, the lowland trash picker who has for only two days been put to rest, can't quite mask its intrigue. Things are precious, no matter how small or malevolently intended. After her trial here is over, perhaps she could sell whatever it is. Anything coming directly from the Prince should fetch a fair price based on his name regardless.

Kylo watches her in silence, his expression calm and studious. It makes her wonder how much her face was giving away of her anticipation. Again, quite annoying.

Then both his voice and body language softens by degrees.

"Here, Rey," he says. "I hope this helps you remember your time here more fondly."

He hands the parcel in his hands to her and steps back. Rey ponders the square-shaped item before carefully unwrapping the heavily embroidered fabric it's covered in.

A leather-wrapped tome falls into her hands. She blinks at it, then back up at Kylo. His face gives her nothing. She turns it around then over, inspecting the spine before flipping through the bound pages.

"It's blank," she says after a moment.

"It's a _journal_. Your uncle had said you liked to imagine great stories as a child, I thought you might like the chance to write them down here. Or, perhaps, simply to put your current thoughts to paper and keep your own account of the state of our marriage."

Rey's growing sense of excitement is immediately crushed by that last word. He had been doing rather well until then, only to remind her in an instant of the unpleasantness of how she came to be here at all.

And yet…

"Why did you give this to me?"

Rey wishes she could read her husband's face. Ideally, read his mind. But now when he blinks, Rey thinks she sees a hint of sadness along the crease of his brow that shouldn't be there. She's said something to offend him, then? Interesting that he can be offended at all, or maybe he just finds her confusion tedious.

Kylo clears his throat. Opens his mouth. Then closes it and shakes his head.

"Would you like to have breakfast with me?" he asks.

It's Rey's turn to blink. She was very hungry, in fact. The last she had eaten was a single hard-to-swallow lump of their wedding cake the afternoon before. After Kylo's visit last night someone had knocked on her door and asked if she would like dinner but she had buried her head under the bedsheets and refused to answer.

Was the book a bribe, then? Oh here, have a little piece of something and now you have to give e your time in thanks?

It would almost work. Not now, but before. Scavenger Rey would have been far more amiable then the lady he's tried to marry her into becoming.

"I'd rather dine alone," she says after a moment.

Kylo's jaw tightens. Displeasure. She had seen that on him before and now she deliberately commits it to memory. Like any prey, she must learn his tells so she knows how far to react or run.

His posture straightens. Rey hadn't noticed until now that he'd been subtly edging closer and leaning forward, but that's all over in an instant as his true nature returns to him.

"Very well, wife," he says. "But I shall have you brought to the harem in an hour or so, and I expect you to go there without complaint. Your sisters are very anxious to meet you, I understand."

Rey fidgets, her thumbs absently stroking the smooth leather of the journal in her hands. It was… well, she knew how to read and write. Uncle Luke had assured her a higher level of education than most women when she had come under his care, but as of now she has less than an idea what to write in its pages. The luxurious cloth it was wrapped in, on the other hand, might fetch her a full week's worth of meals if she was sly with her bargaining for it.

"What am I supposed to do there?" she asks. "What is expected of me?"

They had never discussed that last night when their arrangement was being made. Had hardly discussed anything, in fact, other than Rey's distaste for everything her new husband holds dear and his odd compulsion to sway her regardless.

Kylo smiles, then. It's not a nice sort of smile, and Rey stands up a little taller to try and match him despite their height difference.

"They will teach you what is expected of you as a wife, my dear Rey. But don't worry-" he reaches out to cup her chin and Rey has to fight very hard the urge to smack him with _her_ new book, "-there are certain lessons that only I am allowed to impart to you."

A shiver runs down her spine from the warmth of his touch mixing with the coldness of his words. Then he lets go of her and steps back, straightening his own grand robes smooth in a gesture that clearly signals he's about to take his leave.

"What in the hells does that mean?" she asks, stepping quickly backwards.

The glint in his eye stays as he turns from her, his robes swirling behind his movements like a cloak of shadows.

"You'll see, darling. Until then, enjoy your meal."

With that, the door closes behind him, the lock automatically clicking into place. Rey stays frozen to the spot, staring at the space where her husband had just occupied.

He's… he's mocking her. He must be. But, for the life of her, Rey can't figure out why. Why bother to fluster a piece of desert trash? Why pick on her when there were so many others he could have chosen who would have been better suited to any aspect of her new life?

He'd said he'd felt a connection. He'd seen it, or so he claimed, as she'd ran and leaped between one relic and another. Loathe as she was to admit it, Rey had felt it too. His touch on her chin or wrist the night before… there had been more to it than simple skin to skin contact. It was nothing she had experienced before and she couldn't deny how it had piqued her curiosity.

But then, of course, his words had done just the opposite. So he _did_ expect things of her during this sham of a marriage, then? Why? With all the women he had literally at his disposal, why couldn't he see fit to simply leave her alone and in peace?

And what about the other wives? Her "sisters"? What was this new business to come with them?

A knock comes from the other side of the door. Rey's eyes flick to it, still standing rigid as she had been before, and she waits for the knob to turn.

It doesn't, but the knock repeats.

"Who is it?" she calls out, clutching the journal to herself even tighter.

"Breakfast, m'lady."

A woman's voice. An older woman's voice. Presumably one of the staff, because Rey highly doubts Kylo would have anyone over a 'certain age' within his harem.

Rey takes a deep sigh, steels herself, then opens the door and accepts the tray of pastries and rare fruit she's never seen the likes of. She should eat. If what her _husband_ says is true, today she'll need all the strength she can find to endure through it.

* * *

Rey hadn't been within the harem for all of five minutes before she was cornered by a gang of vicious hyenas.

"Is your room to your liking, sister?" one of them asks Rey, pretending she isn't looming down upon her and forming a literal wall of verbal assault.

"I'm sure that it is," another answers for her. "Our husband gave you your own suite, imagine that. A full set of rooms all your very own."

"Imagine indeed," the third chimes in. "And on your first day of marriage, no less. I've been here two years and I _still_ have to share. The Prince of Alderaan must have truly taken a liking to you."

"Or maybe felt sorry for you. Perhaps that. Understandable, don't you agree, sisters?"

A hum of concurrence rises and Rey rolls her eyes.

She had been brought there shortly before the noon-time prayer call, and she had tried and failed to keep a low profile in the dimly lit, interlinking chambers of the harem. But of course every last woman in the place had turned to watch her arrival. Arrival followed almost immediately by an abduction by a gang of harpies who wanted a 'quick little chat' with her.

"My room is fine," she finally says. "And if it wasn't, I wouldn't speak of it to you anyhow."

With that, Rey pushes her way through the gang. They try to stand firm, but when she shoves hard enough that they have no choice but to part or be knocked over. She stumbles past them, narrowly avoiding an outstretched foot designed to trip her.

Juvenile. Pathetic and juvenile and still rather upsetting. This was worse than she had been expecting.

The rest of the sisters in the room watch without comment or interference. Some of them smirk meanly, though whether it's at Rey or the trio of bullies she isn't sure. Others of them scowl or simply roll their eyes, going back to simple busywork crafts or sometimes nothing at all.

Rey moves quickly to get distance, but projects an air of strength as she goes. Lets the others see she won't be bullied without a fight.

Behind her one of the three mutters a less than hidden 'garbage picking scum' but Rey keeps her chin up, moving out from the side room she had been trapped in to return to the center bathhouse. The harem, as it turned out, was an expansive network of small and large chambers, all built like spokes around a spacious swimming pool. How the palace managed to provide heated waters for the bath was a mystery, and Re would have sorely longed to take a dip in it if it wasn't for the company she would have had to keep.

Instead, she crosses the slippery marble floors with care, not daring to look back or to the sides or any ways other than forwards. Now, in the daylight hours, the harem appears to be half full. When not squabbling with her or cattily gossiping about each other, the remaining sisters in here seem to spend their time lounging about and doing little else. It was an odd notion to Rey. To simply exist and do nothing more.

Some of them quite frankly appear to be on drugs, their glassy eyes staring up at the murals and painted ceiling. Others preen themselves or eat or play instruments with varying degree of skill. There were no men this time, though that might have had more to do with the hour of the day.

Rey is the only one in the small library wing of the harem. Apparently reading was either beyond or beneath the rest of her sisters, and the choice of reading material still leaves much to be desired. Ship's logs. Maps and scriptures. Dry accounts of a stranger's travels to faraway lands. Rey had hoped for something more engaging to while away the time, but she still buries her nose in a book titled "Tales from Tatooine" as a new group of voices enters the room directly outside of the small reading alcove.

There are five of them, judging by the sound of their footfall. Rey can smell the expensive perfume wafting in their advance, and she tucks her feet up onto the bench and out of sight of the passersby as she listens to their conversation. A conversation which, predictably, seems to be about the latest addition to the sisterhood.

"-not much at all. Skinny. Coarse. Very tanned."

"Ugly, then?"

"Yes, ugly."

"No… er, not quite ugly. She might have been pretty. Once. We'll need to groom it back into her."

"Potential, then."

"Why bother? He didn't stay with her last night. Not even for an hour. He's probably tired of her already."

The voices stop outside the library. Rey narrows her eyes and squints through a small gap in the curtain divider. Immediately she recognizes the scowling face of one of the three that had cornered her. She and three others are facing someone who's head is hidden but there's that long sweep of blonde hair that she'd seen the night before.

"She tried to attack me," the dark haired one says. "Or- or she nearly did. She shoved me for no reason. We should complain. I don't have to put up with this."

"Complain? To whom?" The blonde's voice is regal, each syllable annunciated perfectly. "The guards barely interfere when we turn against each other, let alone protect us from a newcomer. And Kylo doesn't care. No, sisters, we handle this amongst ourselves."

Interesting. She, the blonde, called him Kylo. Before the others had used his title. Rey edges as close to the curtain as she can, hunching low and trying to get a clearer look at everyone's faces.

The darker girl who she'd disagreeably met before. Two brunettes, both very similar in appearance enough to be sisters or perhaps not quite. A slim, petite redhead with an angelic face and prodigious bosom. And the tall blonde who towers a good hand above them and her back is to Rey.

"She's a lowlife garbage picker, Nevan," the dark one with the grudge against her argues. "She shouldn't even be here at all. It's embarrassing to have her here."

The two brunettes nod in unison. The redhead chews on her finger. A feeling of suspense hangs in the air. Clearly they're waiting for their leader to do something.

"Kylo chose her himself," the blonde reminds them. "We must-"

"We could ambush her in the night. Put a good scare or worse into her and watch her run. She won't be the first sister we've scared off."

This time it's one of the two brunettes that speaks out. The shiney blonde head shakes, the hair swaying from side to side and skimming the center waist of the jeweled dress she's wearing.

"Hush, sister. Our newest recruit may be swayed to useful still, she might just need to be… corrected out of certain bad habits. And remember that always the walls have ears."

The blonde turns. From Rey's vantage perch she catches only a brief glimpse of a glittering ruby necklace spilling down white skin and a deep neckline.

Then the curtain of the walls is snatched aside and Rey can't stop herself from squeaking embarrassingly as her hiding spot is revealed.

"Hello, sister," the blonde says to her. "I didn't see you there."

"Hi," Rey offers back meekly.

Behind the leader the other four women stand close and united. The dark haired one and the brunettes glare with open contempt. Only the redhead girl looks away, and Rey stops herself from hoping for anything other than another enemy.

"You've met Serena, if I'm not mistaken." Behind the blonde the darkest haired girl flushes, her lips pressing together tightly until they're just a thin line on her otherwise perfect face. "These two are Ayana and Helana."

She gestures at the two brunettes. Upon closer scrutiny, Rey can now see that they don't actually look all that much alike aside from their hair color. They both sport the same hairstyle, two braided twists wound around the sides of their head, and a similar sort of Grecian sheer robe. Almost as if they were styled to look like the same person, though it came as a small relief to Rey that they seemingly aren't actually related to one another. At least her new husband has that much of decency.

"I'm Nevan," the blonde continues as Rey stays mute-silent. "Welcome to my harem, sister."

Rey assumes she's supposed to respond to this statement, grand and outstanding as it's been offered. She nods, her hands fidgeting at the book on her lap.

"You can read, then?" Nevan asks.

Behind her Serena huffs and the other three exchange a look amongst themselves.

"Of course."

Rey knew this wasn't the most common of skill, particularly among her sex, but surely the rest of the harem had been educated to-

"You can read to us stories then, sister, during the quieter times. Often Kylo or his men will call upon our services, but some nights we have only ourselves to entertain. We used to have an knowledged sister before, and she would read to us then as well."

Nevan takes a step back. Rey glances down at the Tales book. Despite its title, the stories inside were more archival in nature and would hardly make for gripping reading matter.

"Used to have?" she asks, setting the book back on the shelf behind her. "Where is she now?"

A beat passes between her and the clutter of women. Somehow Rey seems to have asked exactly the wrong question. Or, more correctly, was lead into asking it.

"She fell ill," Nevan says. "She is unfortunately no longer with us."

The redheaded sister still unnamed takes a step back, her eyes still downcast. She looks younger than the rest, Rey notes, though they were all still youthful including Nevan.

"Kylo said that-" Rey starts to say, only to be stopped immediately by a swift raise of Nevan's hand.

"He is still the Prince to you, new wife. Only his favorite is allowed to call him by his first name. Remember that as your first lesson."

Favorite? A piece of the puzzle clicks into place at that, as well as a memory of the warning her husband the _Prince_ had given her. Some of the sisters weren't happy to hear of his latest marriage. And perhaps other marriages before theirs.

"Well?" Nevan asks, interrupting Rey's thoughts. "Are you ready, sister?"

The two brunette "twins" step away then, disappearing deeper into the shadows of the bathhouse. Rey realizes that the other wives which had been frolicking in the waters have disappeared during the last few minutes.

"Ready for what?" Rey asks, mentally sizing up her chances.

She's a fine fighter, of that she's not unsure, but she is also outnumbered. Potentially greatly so, depending on how far the rest of the wives have gone off to.

The edges of Nevan's mouth curl up. Rey has to admit, with great and deep reluctance, that she truly is a spectacularly beautiful woman. If she was a man, she would probably desire her as the head wife, too.

"For your first etiquette lesson, Rey," she answers coolly. "Or your second, now that you know how to properly address our husband. _K_ _ylo_ has entrusted me to teach you as I have taught all of my sisters. I'm sure with as clever as you are you will be a very quick study."

Etiquette. Even the word makes Rey swallow. Uncle Luke had tried to teach her a few pieces of what might be considered "etiquette" during her younger years, but she had resolutely rebelled from anything she found too restrictive. Which, it had turned out, was never every rule specific to her gender.

"I don't think-"

"We'll start with a trip to the barbers. I've been told from your wedding attendants that you were rather… unkempt."

Nevan's hand flutters over the direction of Rey's everything from the neck down. _That_ had been another point of contention putting her in an extra cranky mood on her wedding day. In addition to painting her and wrapping her, the assigned attendants had attempted to wax her. Make her sparkle and shine like a fruit waiting to be plucked. They hadn't gotten very far with their attempt.

"Maybe you should take her to the groomers instead," Serena, the dark haired one, chirps from the background. "She might be more comfortable with someone used to barn animals."

Nevan glares back over her shoulder and the mean spirited sister backs down, smirk remaining fixed in place.

The blonde turns to leave and Rey follows with reluctance, keeping one eye behind her as she's lead to a new part of the harem. Lessons. Learning what she needs to know. If Rey was inclined to be rational, it would make a degree of sense. She has to pretend to be a respectable lady for one month. She certainly doesn't know how to do that on her own, hence the need for _the lessons._

Lesson one. Call your own husband by his title because he's a spoiled prat.

Lesson two. Resist the urge to play 'an eye for an eye' with a barber and pot of scalding hot paraffin.

Lesson three…

Well, Rey doesn't know what lesson three is, but now she's very afraid to ask.

Without another word Rey's new gang of sisters escorts her deeper into the network of chambers, further from the door and the dubious safety of her bedroom. In an odd sort of way Rey quite wishes her husband would show up and rescue her right now.

* * *

author's note:

Back after a long break. I've decided to let this story be longer if it wants to be and just have fun with it. There's a plot under all this drama, sure, but let's just enjoy the atmospheric ride right?

Bunch of OCs mentioned here. None from the Star Wars universe and I think these five named wives are going to be the ones with the most screentime so it doesn't get too confusing. There are like a ton more, just these five will be the main bitch squad of opposition.

And, for those not familiar with ancient era terminology, a barber used to be the word for an all around doctor/dentist/aesthetician. Old timey barbers did a little bit of everything back in the day.

Next chapter:

Rey's etiquette lessons continue, and so does the Showgirls-style sisterhood. And then Kylo, Prince of Alderaan, comes to check up on his latest spouse and blood runs hot in more ways than one.

ps. Anyone get the name Nevan? C'mon, it wasn't _that_ long ago. Like, in No Rest for the Wicked, I had a bunch of early 90s references but Nevan was recent enough some of you young whippersnappers here should get it…. (I say hopefully)

* * *

comment replies:

coming soon once ffn lets me see the old ones! some sort of site glitch going on now I guess? I'll reply in an update asap!


	3. Curiosity Can be a Curious Thing

author note:

Hi fanfiction dot net community! Last chapter on archive of our own I unknowingly upset a number of readers with the content of this story, so I'd like to take a moment to clarify and warn everyone here about what you may read in future chapter so you can decide if this story is for you or not. Here on ffn we don't have a tagging system, but this story will contain elements of infidelity, cheating, and polyamory. I say elements because, in my mind, this is a story about a man married to multiple women as was and still is customary in some cultures. Kylo has more than one wife, with all that has implied about his previous contact with them.

However, this is also a lovestory where the ending goal will be him choosing Rey over the rest of the harem. Kylo doesn't love any of his other wives (or, realistically, Rey at this point), and he won't have actual full-on sex with any of them in this story, don't worry. There may be kissing, various bases being crossed, however. At this point I'm honestly not sure "how far" he may go with his other wives other than I won't subject you to a sex scene with them! Of course I understand if this isn't something you want to read anymore. If so, thank you for giving this story a chance for the first two chapters!

For those of you who are sticking with this story after this warning, thank you and know that I really appreciate your interest! I have, I think, a fun and unusual plot in mind that's going to be very different from my usual writing so I hope you like it too! And please forgive me if I don't respond to your comments or take a very long time to get back to you. Feedback is the absolute best part of writing fanfiction and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment, no matter how big or small your message is they're all wonderful so thank you again!

* * *

It quickly became obvious to Rey why her new husband allowed a male barber to be alone around his wives.

Don't get her wrong, Mitaka was pleasant enough. He was clean, professional, and yet still casually friendly to make the light smalltalk almost required by his job.

He also, quite obviously, had no interest in her or anyone else of her sex. Possibly there had been a certain adjustment made to him, Rey had heard of such things happening, but it was far too improper for her to ask.

Then they came to the manner of her current appearance.

"So," Mitaka says, "typically the wives go for 'nothing below the neck' but I've been told that-"

"I'll handle my _grooming_ myself, thank you," Rey snaps.

Her tone comes across as sharper than she had intended, but the barber simply nods and begins to prepare a small, leather bound kit of various supplies to give to her. Rey eyes it warily, pondering both the potential usefulness of the straight razor included in the bundle as well as the possibility that some of her other lovely sisters may be similarly armed.

"What's with all the fixation about my body hair?" she mumbles as she accepts the parcel. "Surely there are far more important things for us 'ladies of leisure' to be spending our time on?"

To that Mitaka cracks a lopsided smile.

"You might be surprised how wrong you are about that, M'Lady. Now let's discuss how to do your hair. Unlike everything else," Mitaka gestures quickly across the length of her, "for your hair Lord Kylo has certain preferences that I'm to advise upon."

Rey narrowed her eyes at that, her knuckles tightening as her fingers squeezed the leather parcel.

"Pref- you mean requirements, don't you? He simply couldn't let us choose for ourselves, could he?"

Mitaka visibly seems surprised, his eyebrows raising high and almost disappearing into his groomed hairline.

"As… as a lady of the court, it's customary to observe certain traditions to your appearance. Having your hair loose or unkempt is… er..."

Rey sighs and loosens her grip on the parcel. The poor barber seems so uncomfortable that she opts to take a moment of pity on him. It's not like it's _his_ , fault, anyhow.

"Fine then. What's it to be?"

Mitaka nods and immediately steps closer, parting her hair swiftly down the center line of her scalp as if he feels an urge to hurry before she changes her mind. He combs it straight, applying an odd but not unpleasant scented oil to it that makes it shine in the muted daylight from the windows high above the small ablutions room they were in.

Rey sighs and allows this, feeling half like a placated pet and half enjoying the strange concept of someone doing something strictly for her benefit. It's only when the barber begins to swirl and then pin half of her hair into a high, rounded bun above her ear that she catches his hand to stop him.

"What in the hells is that?" she asks.

Her reflection staring back at her in the mirror looks ridiculous. Ridiculous and sulky, but to Mitaka's credit his face gives nothing away.

"This side-parted style of updo is one of Lord Kylo's favorite hairstyles for his wives. I'd thought you might like to try it and surprise him with-"

"Oh gods no."

Rey quickly pulls the pins out, her hair flopping back to her shoulders in a shiny spiral. Mitaka's hands hover but don't touch, the fingers twitching slightly as if he's genuinely itching to continue with his masterpiece.

This was the same style that Rey had seen the two brunette wives wear. The ones that had tried to look and dress like each other. It was… icky. Quite. And the fact that her _Kylo_ was apparently fond of the strange hairdo was enough to make Rey immediately despise it.

"Pick something else," Rey asks, tempering her voice to make it sound less like an order. "Something practical that won't get in the way if I need to make a break for it and get the hell out of here."

Mitaka's eyes widen in increments. He doesn't seem quite able to gauge her seriousness or not.

"M'lady?" he eventually settles upon.

Rey picks up the comb from the table and begins to sweep her hair back into a ponytail as she debates whether to go for one bun or three. Mitaka allows this for only a moment before he begins to correct her, straightening and smoothing down the haphazardly lumpy sides of her hair before placing the top knot much higher up by her crown then she normally would do. Together, with a negotionary mix of silence and subtle 'allow me M'lady's', they come to a treaty with an annoyingly elegant swept back updo framed by soft curls and a good few dozen nearly invisible pins. This was followed by a subtle but skillful application of rogue to her lips and cheeks and an inky line of kohl over her eyelashes and flicked out along the edges of her lids.

When Mitaka steps back, it's with an air of pride and satisfaction.

"What do you think?" he asks. "Do you believe you can run for your life in this?"

He's joking. Rey hopes. But she also barely recognizes the sweet and fresh face that stares back at her.

"I look so… pretty."

Rey isn't sure how she feels about that last word. Mityaka's smile grows. She leans forward, studying herself more closely. As much as she absolutely hates to admit it, she looks romantic and lovely. She didn't look like this on her wedding day. No, then she had been smothered in war paint by a nameless attendant with a heavy hand. Now she looks like a more charming version of herself, and somehow that's so much worse.

Her barber waits, hovering. Rey sighs before, for his sake, admitting that she likes it.

"Do I have to do this everyday?" she asks.

She hadn't kept track of the time, but it had felt like it had taken a while. Granted more than half of that had been spent with Rey squirming or negotiating about the final result, but time was time and she should be doing…

Doing what? So far her first day as a married woman had been spent watching for a knife at her back around her new sisters and just sitting around breathing. Surely there had to be something more, wouldn't there?

"In the beginning, yes," Mitaka answers. "Over time I can teach you how to do much of this for yourself and I'll only visit for special events. Or, of course, I can come by every day and we can have a nice, quiet hour or two in here. That is if you won't miss your sisters too much."

Rey cracks up then, giving her head a vigorous shake from side to side to test out the tensile strength of her updo. A clearing of a throat behind her stops her, and dozen or two more pins is applied to correct the movement.

After a moment, Rey quietly dismisses him. Time's wasting and she might as well get back to doing all that nothing.

* * *

After Mitaka had left, gone to paint and fluff another sister, Rey had been once again left at a loose end.

She couldn't stay cringing here in this little washroom forever, she knew that. But she delays her departure as long as she possibly can, spending far more minutes than she ever has before with tidying up her appearance.

She'd said it before but now she still means it: she looks pretty. Damnit. She likes how she looks.

This is terrible. This is going to make her soft and vain. As diaphanous as her gown and the spirit of her sisters.

Rey leaves the room with a grimace, bracing herself for another ambush either by Nevan and her gang or some of the other dozen women she hasn't had the displeasure to informally meet yet.

Instead, her return into the main room of the harem is met without ceremony. Oh, a few frowns and rolls of the eyes follow her careful movements, but for the most part the other women in there seem more preoccupied with themselves or nothing at all. Some turn from Rey as she walks, nearly literally giving her the cold shoulder. It's catty and childish but that's fine, too. It's not like Rey was looking for friendship and being shunned might well be better than being _noticed_.

She walks lightly, the soft satin of her slippers barely making a sound against the woven rugs or smooth marble of the floor. Now that it's past mid-day and her welcome committee has already done their assault on her, Rey takes the opportunity to explore the many chambers of the harem at her leisure. The library wasn't much. Disappointingly threadbare, but perhaps- no, she's not going to ask Kylo for better books. She's going to _tell_ him to provide better. He doesn't get the option to deny this request anymore than she got the option to stay in her bedroom for the full remainder of her time here.

The harem is more expansive than she realized, and it seems to be built around a spoke design with the central pool room forming the hub for a network of side passages. It would be quite easy to get lost in here and, more than once, Rey has to fight back her natural instinct to quickly pocket every valuable looking piece of decoration or shiny bauble that catches her eye.

One side of the harem appears to be some sort of dorm room. Rey peeks in, seeing a trio of beds and a spacious armoire. No one is there at the moment, but the room looks lived in and that prompts her to hurry on. This room was followed by two more, similar rooms, the last of which has murmured voices speaking in a foreign tongue. Apparently her having her own room all to herself really was a subject of oddity.

Rather than ponder that, Rey leaves this wing of the harem entirely and works her way around to the far side. Here the rooms take on a different quality. The furnishings are plusher and the lights dimmer. Few windows brighten the space and the walls are richly tapestried in silks and velvet. The whole space has a tactile feeling to it that makes Rey blush without completely knowing why.

There are sounds here, too. A woman's voice. No, _women's_ voices. And a man's, too. Not one that she recognizes and,even though Rey hardly knows more than the smallest fraction of the residents to the palace, this voice has an oddly posh lilt to it that makes Rey swallow as her mind began to fill in the blanks.

Despite herself, Rey keeps going deeper as curiosity takes over from common sense. When she arrives at the furthest room at the end of the corner, the door is open a crack and voices are coming from within. They're no longer talking, though. Moreso one of the female voices is… Rey can't think how to describe it other than making short little cries that sound like they have nothing to do with pain.

She cringes and turns away, but her feet won't let her take more than a few steps before they stop for her. The sounds continue and her ears are both burning and suddenly hypersensitive. The man's voice murmuring something low and indistinct. A slap of flesh. An odd clink. More moans and then another voice, the one from the second woman, laughing lyrically.

It's not as if Rey has no notion of the relation between men and women but… but… up until that brief glimpse last night and then now, she had never been exposed to it so directly.

And how could there possibly be more than two people involved at all? Like… how would that _work_? There simply doesn't seem to be a plausible way.

Rey's curiosity only grows with the lurid sounds. It creeps its way into her veins, suffusing her with an almost palpable temptation. Just take a peek. One little glimpse. It will be disgusting. Horrible. You'll never want to see this again. But then you'll know and you'll never have to wonder about _that_ evermore.

Rey looks back over her shoulder. The hallway is as empty as she came to it. In the far distance is the soft sound of music. Unskilled music. One of her sisters must be trying her hand at doing something beyond simply existing.

Hopefully the incompetent performance in the bathing room will be enough to keep the rest of the wives distracted, because now Rey simply can't resist the urge to voyeurism any longer.

She creeps back, silent as the still of the night, and toes the door open another inch.

Inside the room is dim save for the flickering light of an overhead candelabra. A pale, redheaded man that Rey recalls having a place of prominence during her wedding, is rocking his hips into a naked woman from behind. No, not just any woman, one of the sisters that had ambushed her with Nevan earlier.

It's the one that had her hair in that awkward side bun style. Ayana, if Rey remembers right. Her pseduo-twin is there as well, except she's still clothed. Half-clothed, more accurately. Her lower half is pooled in chiffon while her full breasts are exposed to the air. They sway softly as she reaches tot he side, dragging a strange sort of lamp closer to herself.

Oh. It's not a lamp, it's some manner of pipe. The woman, Helana, presses her lips to a tube coming out of it and inhales deeply. Then she collapses back against the cushions of the lounge she's on, her limbs spread lethargically as she watches her sister being rutted into.

This was too much. Rey holds her breath as she back away, leaving the door slightly ajar because she's suddenly afraid to touch it in fear that something would happen to her. What she doesn't know, but her departure wasn't a moment too soon. Two new voices start echoing down the hallway, and Rey quickly darts through a small door to hide.

She leaves it open just a crack, and it affords her enough light to see that she's in some sort of closet or small store room. Odd vials line the shelves, sharing space with swaths of the same thin, sheer fabric her and the other wives clothes are made of. There's a pipe as well that looks similar to the one she just saw Helana smoking from. Nothing is in it, but when she gives a curious sniff she catches notes of something very spicy and dark.

And, oh, there are books on the shelves too. But, before Rey can investigate, the voices draw nearer and she cringes back, hiding herself against the deepest shadows of the small space.

From her small view she sees Nevan and the redhead girl whose name she never was given. At first she thinks they are walking hand in hand, but as they pass Rey can see that Nevan is holding the girl's wrist and guiding her down the hall. They move together to a room that lays opposite the sisters and the man where, judging by the sounds now echoing, it seems like events are reaching some sort of crescendo. That door, which happens to be the room next to Rey's closet, opens and closes, leaving whatever they are getting into together as a mystery.

Rey wastes no more time. Her depraved sojourn into this wing of the harem has left her feeling both uncomfortable and distinctly odd. She's borne witness to something she had no right to see, but somehow couldn't compel herself to look away. Now though, she's seen more than enough. Rey grabs a book before she leaves. It has a blank cover and no title on the spine, and she seizes one of the vials as well as her inner scavenger takes over to guide her out of this mess.

Never would she have imagined the central bathhouse of the harem would be such a welcome sight. Inside the air is clearer, the whole room brighter and less intimidatingly intimate. It's pleasantly cool after the heated depths of the back rooms and here her sisters only glance at her and then go back to bathing or lounging or badly playing a harp. In short, they go back to behaving _normally_ and that at least Rey can understand.

Even still, she wants to leave. No, she _n_ _eeds_ to. Needs to be alone for a moment to calm her burning cheeks and racing heart. Her room would do, or perhaps that pleasant-seeming garden she had been lead through earlier.

No one tries to stop her when she leaves through the entrance from the harem. Rey had been bracing herself for a fight. A physical one, if necessary, or in the least a war of wills.

Instead there is a trio of guards standing by the entrance who seem either surprised or unemotive to her sudden appearance outside the harem walls.

Rey glances between the three of them nervously, but when they make no move to stop or question her, she gathers her nerve and strides past, picking a direction randomly without thinking.

The guards murmur amongst themselves in a foreign language, and then one of them falls into place behind her. Rey eyes him warily, but he makes no move to guide her. Her shadow then, and it's not like Rey knows where she's going anyhow so she allows it.

Her feet seem to propel her forward of their own accord, just like they had earlier. This time, however, instead of taking her to an erotic display, they lead her straight to that garden that she had been seeking.

It's a lovely place, even more beautiful in the day then it had been at night. Flowering vines line the walls, cascading all the way up to a massive skylight letting in the mid-afternoon sun. The whole space is bright and cheerful. Such a far cry from the harem in every way. Aside from Rey and her shadowy protector, the room is empty and the adjoining hallways are blessedly silent.

Rey sighs deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers and the brief reprieve the garden offers. She takes a seat on a marble bench next to a small fountain and closes her eyes. Here, in this quiet place, Rey almost feels at peace.

It's a short lived peace, however. She only sits in silence for a few moments before the creaking of her guard's armor breaks her out of her spell.

The guard, face hidden by the traditional Alderaan Palace mask, stands in front of her now. His stance and his cape are wide, and it takes Rey barely a moment to realize that he's standing in such a way to hide her from the sight of any passersby.

"Lady Rey," the guard addresses.

It's a more familiar address than the previously customary M'lady. The man's voice is somewhat muffled by the mask, but it's one Rey faintly recognizes. She's heard it before but she can't place exactly where.

Her pulse begins to pick up as the man stoops lower, still towering over her sitting form.

"What is it?" she whispers, her eyes darting behind him to the still-empty hallway.

"I have a message for you," he tells her, his voice conspiratorially low. "But first you must promise to speak of what I'm about to say to no one. Do you agree?"

Rey stares at him, baffled with disbelief. Is this a test? It feels like it could be a test, but to what end she can't begin to imagine.

Still, though, only one way to find out.

Hesitantly she nods, standing up to both conceal herself in the mysterious guard's shadow and face whatever he's about to say head on. Somehow, deep in her gut, Rey just _knows_ that her situation is about change, but will it be for the better or worse?

* * *

Author Note:

Wheee, a little more intrigue! Catty sister-wife drama is fun and all, but I think this story needed a little something extra to up the stakes. So what's this guard all about? Well, you'll find out next chapter, as well as loverboy hubby coming back onto camera. How's his and Rey's next encounter going to go? Well this is a romance, after all, so hopefully what I have in mind will be fun and a little surprising too!

Comment replies:

Last chapter ffn was acting a little buggy so I couldn't properly respond to the comments I got from ch1, sorry about that! To make up for it, here's a double set of replies and a big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to comment!

Chapter 1:

tengkuaniza: Glad you liked this first chapter! Thanks for commenting!

Joyceyoojin: Thank you! : )

ForeverALostGirl: Glad to hear it! I hope you liked ch2 also! Thanks for commenting!

Angelique Sauvengarde: Ah, you're from Idaho?! It's a gorgeous state, isn't it? Our cabins are up in the far north, very close to the Canadian border. Thanks so much for commenting!

Kfulmer7: Always glad to see you again! There's a reason Kylo wanted a month promise, and that'll come out with time. Rey being Kylo's one and only is coming, but we've got a lot of story to get through before the get there! Thanks as always for commenting! : )

Paul Lenzen: So glad you're enjoying this story! Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit: I'm really glad you're invested in this story! I promise I'll try to update whenever I can, things are just a little hectic now but I hope you hang in there with me! Thanks so much for commenting!

Chapter 2

Guest #1: Glad you liked this chapter! Thanks for commenting!

Jhsbradford: Rey and the Showgirls would make a totally awesome band name! That, or a hit Vegas act, ha! Short tempers, shorter skirts, that could be their tagline lol!

Guest #2: Rey's both got a lot of fight in her as well as ahead of her, that's for sure! Thanks for commenting!

Guest #3: If you decide to keep reading this story (and I totally understand if you don't feel comfortable with it), then I hope you enjoy reading it! I have a lot of fun things planned, so thank you so much for commenting!

Kylorensgirl213: Glad this story has captured your interest! Thanks so much for commenting! : )

ToughSpirit: Oh yes, Rey and her new "sisters" Drama drama drama, right? Thanks so much for commenting again!

Girlwith100names: Glad to hear it! Thanks for finding this story and commenting!

Paul Lenzen: Ha! I'm not sure Rey would agree with you about that one! Thanks for commenting!

Guest #4: Thank you for the lovely comment! I'm relaxing my hold on this story and kinda just letting it go where it wants to and I'm so glad you've been enjoying it so far! : )

Bendemption: Thank you for your compliment about my writing! I really try to write well, and it made my day to read your comment! I hope you liked ch3 also! : )


	4. And How the Plot Thickens

Chapter summary:

Where Rey meets a face from the past, rolls around on the floor with her husband, and nearly dies of embarrassment. Then the end of a long and trying day brings with it yet another unexpected development.

* * *

The guard, a black clad shape more apparition than man, watches Rey through the concealed eyes of his helmet.

Her pulse starts to increase, an odd sort of unease gripping her. She fidgets, lightly feeling for the metal indentation of the barber's blade. She has hidden it in the sleeves of her robe but, if this stranger means her ill, it would hardly do more than scratch the surface of his durasteel armor.

"My message?" she asks, hesitant but also unwilling to prolong the moment more than it's already built up to.

The guard hesitates. Then he nods, the gesture nearly imperceptible and hidden by his armor. A gloved hand extends, ostensibly held out to help her to her feet, but when she carefully takes it something is pressed into her palm.

"Your uncle has been called back, _Rey_. Your days here may be numbered very soon."

The words don't immediately hit home. Rey blinks, pulling away but the hand on her own only tightens, something solid now digging in to her skin.

"My Uncle? How-"

Her eyes widen as the realization dawns. The guard nods, letting go of her hand and straightening up. In the near distance voices echo. Someone is coming and the guard, her uncle's messenger, quickly steps back to a less compromising proximity.

"W-what does he want from me?" she whispers. "I have no power here. I can't help him."

"For you to know that you're not alone, Rey. There are those among us who are close and you are not alone."

The voices move closer then, nearly around the corner to the entrance of the courtyard. Rey stands quickly, smoothing down her dress and robe out of a reflex to try to look halfway presentable. As a dirt covered scavenger it was a deeply ingrained habit, though now as a 'lady' she realized it only perhaps made her look rather wayward.

Her guard sinks further away, now standing nearly across the room from her. Again something about him strikes her as familiar, and his message helps pinpoint her compass to the right memory.

"Poe?" the voices echo closer and she takes a step more near before he raises a hand up to ward her back. "Poe, _what in the gods_ are you-"

"Have the shipment prepared by tomorrow. See to it yourself personally, Captain, or I'll have no choice but-"

It was the redheaded man she had seen bedding two of her sisters earlier. He is walking next to a mountain of gleaming metal that, through contextual clues, Rey assumes is some sort of 'Captain'. They both stop and stare at her, whatever they were saying forgotten.

"Hello," Rey says timidly. "You were at my wedding, weren't you?"

The redheaded man straightens.

"Indeed. What are you doing out here? I had expected this area to be empty."

Rey blinks. He had some sort of plan in here, did he? But then his eyes start to roam over her, and she draws her robe tighter across the sheer gown she has underneath.

"I wanted to take a walk," she answers.

The man's gaze lingers rudely at places below her chin.

"Will you be in the harem later, then?"

Rey's eyes widen, but she can't give the game away. Already Poe's hands are tightening into firsts, and the redhead man and his companion turns their attention to him. An eyebrow is raised and Rey can practically hear the gears turning in their heads.

"Perhaps, but how may I address you if I see you?"

She gives a polite curtsy, remembering the mannerisms of her brief encounter with the upperclass during her wedding just one night ago.

Whoever this man is, his ego must be sufficiently bolstered by her flowerly words. His chest puffs out slightly, and again his gaze flicks to the small triangle of flesh exposed at the collar of her robe.

"General Hux," he informs her crisply, " we _had_ been introduced, you know, but I supposed you were too head over heels in wedded bliss to remember."

With that he turns and stomps past them out one of the many doors. He's followed at a distance by the Captain, and Rey can feel a weight of suspicion hang in the air behind them.

No sooner than they leave out of suspected earshot does Rey scamper forward, only to be again brushed back by Poe's gesture.

"Enjoy your walk, m'Lady," he tells her. "We are never far away should you need us. Never far at all, if you were to find a way."

He turns too, quickly spinning around and marching back in the direction of the harem.

Rey stands frozen to the spot, so many questions spilling over into the gates of her mind. Her uncle… he had been _called back_.

The wording was the significant part, because put alone the phrase could mean anything, but now Rey knew in her heart where the truth lay. Many years ago, around the time she was believed to have been born, there had been a bloody coup against the Alderaan crown. A group of rebels knows as the Resistance had tried to overthrow them, and her 'uncle' had had a key role in their ultimately failed attempt.

Luke had gone into hiding, only coming out of the woodwork a few years ago and under a new identity when Rey had been arrested for theft. Theft from the dead, because in Rey's mind the crypts and their riches were more for the living than those who hardly needed their riches anymore . Her 'Uncle Luke' had claimed her falsely as a blood relation. His new identity as a inventor and respectable renaissance man had been thew only thing that had kept her from the gallows.

For five years they had tried to live a respectable life. Neither one of them were well suited to it. And now it seemed like her false uncle had fallen on one side again while she another.

Rey fidgets, not daring to look at the object that had been placed into her hand. She tucks it carefully under her breast band, hiding it from sight until she can deal with it in privacy later on.

And then there was Poe. He had been an old contact of hers. A bridge between her scavenging and those who were willing to pay the more often then not stolen goods. Poe had approached being something akin to a friend, but he'd always kept ties with people far further from the law then Rey cared to be connected with. She hadn't seen him in years, not since before she was taken under Luke's wing.

Poe had said to take a walk. It felt like more than just a passing suggestion, so that's what Rey does. She leaves the garden courtyard, taking a new passage to an area of the palace she's yet to see.

There are but a few people milling about this section. Mostly members of staff or the occasional lower level security guard. All of them glance at her oddly, leaving Rey to assume that the wives aren't usually seen out during this time of day.

No one stops or questions her, and Rey slowly starts to feel more curious and less cautious as she navigates through the maze of corridors and smaller rooms. Judging by the elegant décor this wing of the palace must be reserved for nobility if not the royal family themselves. As far as Rey knows Kylo is the only royal who currently lives here. His mother the Queen is overseas monitoring some sort o political situation that Rey is unfamiliar with. From what she's gathered, she has been away for the better part of a year. No one has seen Kylo's father for much longer,though the details of that are even less known.

So he's here all by himself. If Rey was feeling generous, she might almost wonder if that's part f the reason why Kylo is the way that he is. Maybe all of his wives are simply a reflection of loneliness? Maybe there's more to this then pure greed because why else would a man have so many women that he barely seems to know?

Rey's grasping at straws here. Her husband has kept her so much in the dark about so many things. Their marriage is only a temporary one, or so she's been promised, but that doesn't mean that she is completely without curiosity for the man who swept her out of a life of poverty for a life of idleness.

Lost in thought, now Rey realizes that she's just plain lost. She'd been ambling through random doors, choosing whichever one wasn't locked or occupied, and now she finds herself at a dead end. One large double door at end of the hallway and it's cracked open with sounds of rapid movement coming from inside.

Rey draws her robe tighter, wishing not for the first time that her designated wardrobe was more practical and less drafty. No one else is around, other than whoever is in that room that, judging by the sounds of it, is either conducting a one-sided battle or possibly utilizing the wives in the way Rey had seen that afternoon.

A blush immediately blooms across her cheeks at the memory. Now that had been one of the most curious things of all, and made even stranger by how Rey alone appeared to be the only one surprised by it.

A deep grunt and a loud thunk from behind the door finally catches the tail of Rey's curiosity. She peeks in through the crack but she can't see more than a large room filled with some oddly shaped furniture.

And more movement. Rapid, pounding movements paired with a quick shuffle of feet. What in the world is going on in there?

Rey opens the door, grateful that it doesn't creak, and sticks her head inside.

It's her _husband_ , and apparently this is some sort of gymnasium. Kylo has his back to her and he's sparring with a stuffed dummy. A weapon is in his hand, some sort of stick with a metal end, and he's practicing various forms and fighting postures.

He's also half naked.

Rey almost runs when she realizes that. Kylo is naked from the waist up. Naked and bending, flexing, moving. When he twists, the muscles in his back coil like a snake. When he kicks out, using the metal stick to heighten his jump, Rey can see how his abdominals contract. Watching him pretend to fight a stuffed piece of fabric is far more intriguing than it should be.

Rey edges into the room just a little further and _now_ is of course when the door chooses to alert her husband of her presence.

Kylo stops mid strike, his muscles tighten with unresolved tension and a slight sheen of sweat catching the light as he takes notice of her.

"Rey?"

He sounds surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

Rey blushes, looking down at the rough tiled floor. He's not wearing enough for her liking, but at least the few clothes he has on are practical, unlike her sheer gown and thin silk robe.

"I… I wanted to go for a walk. I ended up here."

Kylo steps closer, and Rey jumps at the unexpected clattering of his staff against the floor. She looks up at him then away again, edging towards a window to pretend to look out from instead.

They're on the third story of the palace. Below them the grounds sprawl out and down along a steep hillside. Beyond it lies the city and, somewhere out of sight, her old home.

Rey swallows, feeling her husband's presence behind her. She doesn't look back at him, only to nearly jump out of her skin when a featherlight touch ghosts along the back of her neck.

"Your hair has been changed," he says. "You look so beautiful, even more than the last time I saw you."

Rey's blush returns with a vengeance. The hardest part of his compliment is the tone of sincerity to it.

"You saw me this morning," she reminds him.

"And you look even more beautiful now. Did you get dressed up to see me?"

Rey frowns, turning her head to glare at him, but Kylo has already stepped back, an infuriating smirk tilting up at his lips. He picks up the metal staff again, resuming practicing forms but no longer wailing on the poor dummy.

Rey watches him for a moment, unable to not feel somewhat impressed by how skilled his technique appears to be. She knows he has guards for protection, but to have this level of mastery with martial arts must have taken him years of dedication.

"How are you settling into our new life together?" he asks after a few minutes of her silent observation.

Gods what a question.

"The harem was dreadful," she tells him curtly. "I do believe my husband threw me to the wolves this morning, or perhaps more accurately to a pack of bloodthirsty harpies."

Kylo pauses to regard her. Then he starts to pace, twirling the staff from one hand to another in a spinning flurry.

"You're not getting along well with your new sisters, I take it?"

That's putting it mildly. Rey wishes she could read him, see if he's genuinely surprised or not.

"They hate me. They're awful. I've never done a thing to them, and the dark haired one-" Rey pauses, trying to remember the various names. "Serena. She and her bitch pack of thugs tried to corner me. I don't like being treated like prey, Kylo."

Her husband sighs, rolling his shoulders up and down and once again causing his muscles to flex in ways that try to break Rey's train of thought.

"Serena. Yes. There's a story there with her, but-"

"Tell me. No one tells me anything and I meant it that I did nothing to her beyond simply existing."

Kylo leans against the stick and scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"There was a time when she thought she might become my head wife. Or maybe she and Nevan together, because they've always been oddly close despite Serena's temperament."

Rey frowns, his words unsettling to her on multiple levels.

"Head wife?" she asks. "Do you really rank them like that? That's disgusting."

She's not completely surprised, but Kylo looks at her with an edge to his gaze that she can't tell if it's anger or hurt.

"That's the term used, Rey. Most of the women in the harem are my wives, technically, but many of them are in title only. My head wife is the one that I'm expected to someday have children with. Beyond that it's a role with greater privileges and accompanying risks."

He says it so factually. Rey blinks, trying to understand how all of these pieces connect together.

"So you don't have sex with all of them all the time?"

Rey blurts the question out without thinking. Kylo gapes at her, then bursts out into a laugh.

"Is that really- Rey, thank you for the compliment about my stamina, but even I have my limits."

Rey wants to press. Wants to grill him for details on which wives, which of her atrocious 'sisters' he _does_ have intimacies with, but… but that would make it seem like she cares. It's his business, after all, and nothing that effects her.

"Alright, so, this Serena… she thought she was going to be your 'head wife', but she's not? Did you get bored of her quickly also?"

Kylo's mood immediately falls. Instead of answering, he simply shakes his head and goes back to practicing forms. There's certainly more to that story than he's telling her, but she drops the discussion for now to steer it into a new direction.

"Why do they hate me, then? If some of your wives aren't fully- er, if some have a different sort of relationship with you, then why would they care less about me?"

Serena's hostility had certainly seemed more personal than just a hazing ritual, and then there was that whole unsettling business with the other wife that had 'fallen ill', Rey can only speculate what that means.

"Rey," Kylo answers as he completes the next sequence of shadow moves. "There is a hierarchy amongst the women in the harem. I only get involved in the rare case that… you should know that you have a very high ranking, more so than many of those who have been here for longer, and I would guess that that's why Serena and her clique targeted you. Pure simple jealousy."

Now that Rey is finally starting to get answers, she feels more confused than ever.

"A… a high ranking? Me? Why?"

Kylo sets the staff down and walks over to her. Tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear and Rey wraps her arms tighter around herself.

"Because I chose you, Rey. Most of my wives were appointed to me, but I chose you myself."

His hand lingers against her cheek. Rey frowns at it, and Kylo sighs and steps back.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" he says.

A frown etches itself into his face and he toes the staff on the ground but doesn't pick it up. Rey nods slowly, wondering at his odd change in temperament.

"You did," she reminds him.

He nods, still staring at the floor between his boots. Rey waits for him to speak again but, when he doesn't and the silence begins to become uncomfortable, she starts to turn to leave.

"Rey?" he calls after her before she reaches the door. "Is there something I can do for you? Something I can change to make your stay here more to your liking?"

It's a surprising question, and Rey doesn't really have an answer. There are too many things to count, but they're all balanced with the fear of him asking for something in return.

"I'm bored," she finally says. "I think most of us are, and maybe that's what makes my 'sisters' so short tempered. I tried to read the books in the library, but they're all dreadfully dull. All the other wives seem to do is lounge around and..."

Her voice trails off and Rey shuts down her memories completely before they veer off course to that alarming display with the General in the back room.

"My wives are given a life of comfort and luxury," Kylo says, a defensive or perhaps offended lilt to his tone. "They want for nothing and have never mention _boredom_ to me at all."

Rey silently wonders if her husband even goes to the harem at all. Well of course he does, the other wives certainly seemed to indicate his presence was a welcome diversion, but how much does eh really know about what does and doesn't go on there?

"I saw who was at our wedding in the harem." Rey chooses her words very carefully. "I was surprised to him there."

"Did he bother you?" Kylo asks.

Bother was an odd way of putting it, considering he didn't even know she was there, so Rey shakes her head.

"No, he… I saw him with the twins. Or not twins. The two wives that dress the same with the stupid hairstyle."

Kylo straightens, an almost pout now on his already too-full lips.

"You mean Ayana and Helana. And that hairstyle was my mother's favorite."

Rey had actually forgotten their names already, or maybe she'd just intentionally blanked out every detail of that moment that she could.

"Your… your _mothers_? Why would they want to look like your mother?"

To that Kylo shrugs, looking away at the window where they had been standing before.

"Probably to try and win back my favor, I'd assume. They used to- well, they used to have a much higher standing in the harem, though I stopped calling on them when they're true nature became apparent."

Calling on them… Gods, Rey has barely been here day and she's already sick to the gills with the complicated politics of her new sisters.

"You mean they no longer satisfied you, is that it?"

Every time Rey tries to find something to like about her husband-

"Satisfied? For a time, but then not in the ways that I've come to realized I lack."

Rey refuses to have an opinion about that. Refuses completely.

"I… I should go," she says after another quiet moment.

"Would you like to fight me?"

Rey pauses mid-flight again, this time looking over her shoulder in surprise. Did she hear him right?

Kylo smirks at her and grabs a sparring mat. He rolls it out along the floor and gestures at it with a sweep of his hand.

"You- you're serious?" she asks.

He nods, he smirk growing and her annoyance rising in turn.

"I've seen you scale relics, remember? I know you're quick on your feet, and, if your uncle was right, you know how to handle yourself in a fight just as well."

Rey flushes with renewed embarrassment. Just what had Uncle Luke been telling about her?

"You can't be serious. Isn't that… unladylike? Shouldn't I be lounging around pondering my next outfit or whatever your other wives spend their mind on?"

Kylo shrugs. He leans against the dummy, slinging his arm over its padded shoulders.

"You said you were bored and my friend here isn't much of a challenge anymore. I think I know all his moves before he even does them. Besides, you certainly seemed like you wanted to hit me on our wedding day, so why not make up for lost time?"

Rey gapes at him. Then reminds herself that she's supposed to act genteel and ladies of leisure don't stand around stupefied.

"I don't think-"

"Unless, of course, you've already lost all your old talents and are afraid I'd beat you too quickly. Perhaps this soft, dull life has gotten the better of you in record time."

If Rey had feathers, she's sure they'd be ruffled to the top right now.

"You're _daring_ me," she spits.

"I am," Kylo admits.

And he smiles wider, offering her his outstretched hand.

Rey slaps it away, shoving him backwards as she takes him up on his offer. She circles him, debating whether she has a chance at all of winning this fight. She should save face and back down, but… but she also really, _really_ wants to wipe that smirk of her husband's face.

"Afraid you're going to lose?" he taunts.

Kylo watches her over his shoulder, smirk only growing with her hesitancy.

"I'm not dressed for this," she tells him. "I'm in a silk gown and you're in training clothes. Or half of training clothes. They give you the distinct advantage."

Kylo shrugs.

"Feel free to take your clothes off, then. It won't be the first time that's happened in this room."

Oh well that's it then. Rey leaps, choosing the way of surprise to give herself the edge. For a second it almost works. For a second Rey thinks she might maybe somehow be able to knock him off balance and then have a real fighting chance at this.

Until Kylo grabs her, spins her, and flips her. It was the robe that did it. She was too limited in her movements that she couldn't pull free of his grip without risking exposing herself.

Rey's back collides with the mat and for a moment she lays there stunned. Did that really just happen so fast?

"Not fair," she gasps.

Kylo smiles, of course he does, and he bends down to offer her his hand.

"I demand a rematch."

This wasn't her fault. Rey was a good fighter, but it was like her new wardrobe was deliberately designed to make it harder to kick her new husband's backside.

Rey pushes herself up to her elbows and swats Kylo's hand away. She springs nimbly to her feet just to show him that she can.

The book that she had stolen from the harem and forgotten was hidden within the billowing pockets of her outer robe falls to the floor.

Rey stares at it dumbly. It was a rather small tome and she had completely forgotten it was there.

"Well it seems like at least one treasure of our library caught your eye," Kylo says.

She bends to pick it up but Kylo bends faster. He snatches it away, apparently finding stealing it right out from her fingertips highly amusing. When he opens it his eyebrows raise nearly into his hairline.

"Rey..."

His mouth forms several shapes and Rey suddenly feels aghast without exactly knowing why.

He turns another page and Rey catches a glimpse of some sort of illustration. She moves to take it from him and he steps back, his mouth settling into a rather odd sort of smile.

"Rey, now I really had _no_ idea-"

"Oh just give it back to me!"

She kicks him hard in the shin. Kylo's eyes sparkle as he finally hands it over.

"And here I was thinking my new wife was an intellectual far above such earthly pleasures."

Kylo crosses his arms then, watching her and seeming to barely contain his amusement by pressing the side of his fist over his mouth.

Rey opens the book and nearly drops it.

It opened down the center seam, plopping her right into the center of the novel, except it's no novel at all. Instead there is an… an image. An illustration of a couple naked and interlinked.

She gasps then and that's apparently the last straw for Kylo. He breaks out into a booming laughter, bending over himself and his whole body shaking.

"Rey, this is too good! Too perfect. Just when I thought you couldn't be any more of an intricate mystery to me-"

"I didn't know! I didn't even open it before now!"

In disbelief she turns another page. Another picture of another couple in another carnal act. Or at least that's what she thinks they're doing. It's not readily clear how exactly the duo is configured.

She slams the book shut and clutches it so tightly her knuckles turn white.

Her husband apparently is done laughing his ass off. He reaches out for her again, taking a step forward and sending Rey scurrying back.

"Would you like to look at it together?" he offers. "You seem rather uncertain and I can explain any points that you're curious of?"

If Rey's goal of fighting him had been to wipe that smirk off his face, she could have hardly failed any more than this. Sheer mortification washes over her, the bite of it as sharp as she'd hardly ever known.

Kylo dares to take another step and she spins on her heel, darting out of the room at such a breakneck pace she barely even hears her husband call out after her.

* * *

Rey turns away every knock at her door.

She'd had to ask for help finding her way back to her bedroom, and that had only soured her mood even further. Then an attendant had come to fetch her to the harem for dinner and she had shot him down before he'd even finished his sentence.

And then she'd felt bad about that, and her mood only worsened as another attendant later came offering to help her with some sort of ungodly sounding nightly ritual. All Rey had wanted was rock to crawl under or a hole to hide in until her tidal wave of embarrassment had ebbed back down to livable levels.

Finally at the third knock on the door she'd lost her composure completely and had shouted for 'whoever it is to go away and stay gone!' Silence had followed. Rey had paced. Tried to ignore her growing hunger by stalking around the confines of her room like a tiger in a cage.

It was an apt comparison. She was here to be displayed, not appreciated. Just like those majestic beasts behind iron bars that she had once seen as a child, now she was an adult with clipped claws. Something pretty, pleasing, and ornamental.

And also hungry, and that too-familiar need was what had finally prompted her to open her door. To her surprise, a package was laying in front of it. A place of food now cold rested on top, and Rey hesitantly took the offering back into her only sanctum.

Black fabric greeted her first. Rey blinked at it, her mind automatically falling to some place of tis being a trap or worse, a cruel offering from her 'sisters'.

"Oh."

That was all she could say when she pulled the first item out. It was an outfit, but nothing like the elaborate sheers she had been given previously. No, this was a matching set of black training clothes. Simple, with a soft and unassuming material and a wholeheartedly practical design.

Rey smiles despite herself. If this was her husbands way of apologizing for… well, for being himself, it wasn't nearly enough but perhaps a slight step in the right direction.

Rey's excitement picked up as she studied the rest of her gift package. It was filled with books, and judging by their covers and first pages they seemed to tales of fiction, nothing like the drab historical fair she had found before.

Her excitement was short lived, however. The very last book wasn't like the others. No, it was _that_ book that had fallen out of her robe during their sparring.

Rey immediately flushes from head to toe, her embarrassment coming back to her full force from even holding the wicked tome in her hands.

She pushes it away from her, recoiling back as if scalded, and tries to ignore it. Her food, though cold, is lovely. She probably could find someone and ask for it to be reheated, but then maybe Kylo would be right and she'd have been getting spoiled to comforts already.

Rey makes it another half hour before curiosity once and again gets the best of her. She approaches the debased book like one would a particularly ornery wild beast. First she toes at it, nudging it a few inches along the floor. There's something sticking out of it. A note.

Gods, if this is her "husband" gloating… Rey will get him back for that. She'll find a way.

With a grit of her teeth she picks the book up and opens it to the marked page. Angular, slanted writing greets her.

 _Dearest wife,_

 _I hope you enjoy your new reading materials. I chose them with care for the ones that I think would suit your interests. Please do let me know if you have any questions regarding **any** of what you read._

 _Signed with affection,_

 _Your Devoted Husband_

Rey turns the note over, convinced there must be more that reveals Kylo's true ulterior motive. That was a mistake because, though the backside of the paper was empty, the note had been resting over… over an illustration.

An illustration drawn with great care and detail of a man with his head largely obscured by the legs of a woman wearing an expression of absolute, exaggerated bliss.

There was an accompanying text, too, but what it says will remain a mystery because Rey immediately hurls the wicked book aside, retreating from it as if it had bitten her.

Gods her husband was unbearable! What sort of cruel-

No. No no no. Rey resolutely refuses to allow herself to be ruffled by him. Not again. The book was garbage, and she was infinitely above it's depraved depths. She should slap his face the next time she sees him. She should shove his gifts right back at him and…

And Rey embarrassingly really wants to keep them. Other than the filth, the rest of the books had seemed high with potential. And the clothing was a welcome change. Something she could actually move in, without constantly being in fear of it slipping and revealing more than she'd like.

So maybe her husband wasn't a complete wretch. Just very, very nearly so.

But would the outfit even fit her? All her other clothes had been custom made for her, but that had taken days. Kylo must have picked these out from what was already on hand.

Rey quickly strips down, her mood lifting with the excitement of trying out her new gift. She really has gotten soft already, hasn't she? Excited about _clothes_ , of all the frivolous things.

When she removes her top layer, something falls out and clinks against the floor. It was the little item Poe had given her. Rey had forgotten about it completely until this moment, but she already knows what it is before she even sees it.

The Resistance's signet ring. Their calling card, as it were, with their traitorous symbol hidden behind a movable stone. Rey turns it over carefully, thinking less about the great significance of the object and more about where she could hide it where it would be safe?

Possibly she could pry the symbol out and burn it? Then it would be just a ring, nothing she could get into deadly trouble for.

Rey spins the stone, the mechanism twisting just like she remembered it. Inside is no emblem, though, but a tiny, tiny little square of paper.

Unlike Kylo's scrawling hand, the writing on it is so small and faint that Rey has to bring it right next to her bedside candle to be able to read it at all.

 _Midnight tonight. On the roof._

Another note. Another invitation from another man that Rey isn't sure she wants anything to do with. Unlike Kylo, however, this time this is one that she's willing to take a risk on.

* * *

author's note:

Not sure how I feel about this chapter. I wish I could have spent a little more time on it to streamline because it really rambles, but I had a deadline and this fic needed an update so here we are. Lots of plot developments. Last chapter on of you lovely readers had a REALLY interesting suggestion regarding the book Rey found in the closet. I was really tempted to change it to being the dead sister's diary because that was brilliant, but ultimately I decided to stick to my outline and have it be a Alderaan Kama Sutra because… well, it's just funnier and OF COURSE Rey would ave to get busted with it, right? I need to get sex on that girl's brain if this is ever going to be heading in that direction. But I really liked that idea with the diary, so it just might make an appearance alter on it the plot, hmmmm….

And I changed a teeny tiny thing from ch2 where I described the mysterious guard as being really tall. I originally had planned on him being Finn in disguise but, as my plot developed in my head, Poe seemed a better fit for the role. Anyone see that cast photo where they made poor Oscar Isaac stand on a stool next to Adam and Gwendoline? Ouch. They could have put him in the designated shorties section next to Luke and Leia, just sayin'…

* * *

Comment replies:

Girlwith100names -

Did you guess right what the guard would tell Rey? Sorry about the delay in updating, too, but I hoep this chapter was worth the wait! : )

Guest #1 -

Glad you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit

Aw, thanks for the kind words! Yeah, I was really surprised by the comments the 1st two chapters of this story had got, but hoepfully it will be smooth sailing from now on out. Thanks so much for commenting!

DeepSeaGirl678-

Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!

Guest #2-

Ahh THANK YOU so much! I try to write well, but it doesn't always come out like I ahd in mind. I'm glad you're trusting me to tell a good story, that really emans a lot! : D

Paul Lenzen-

Glad to hear you liked ch3! Hopefully this latest one was also a fun read, though it certainly raised a whole new set of questions and complications for poor Rey, didn't it? Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you next chapter too! : )

Guest #3-

Glad I captured your interest, thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers#

Ha, your name reminds me of Lucifer (one of my favorite shows)! This chapter we saw a somehat softer side of Kylo and it confused the heck out of Rey. And then he jst had to put his foot in it, of course. The poor boy's not nearly as slick as he thinks he is. Thanks for commenting!

Mordax6-

I hoped you liked these next chapters too! Thanks for commenting! : )


	5. Give 'em The Slip

Chapter summary:

Where Rey huffs and puffs and blows those bars right open!

author note:

So sorry this chapter was both very late and very short! I have been SO BUSY, but I think it's about to settle down now so I'm going to try posting shorter chapters more often (fingers crossed)

* * *

Rey was no stranger to fear.

Much of her life had been shaped by this fundamental emotion. Fear of not surviving and all the many different facets that could mean had been a constant companion to her up until her "Uncle" had taken her under his wing.

Some fears were worse than others, though. Life and death stakes were so common to her that they were almost comforting. Live or die by her own hand.

The politics of an arranged marriage, a hate-filled nest of her sisters, and now a mysterious call to action however, all brought with them the worst fear of them all: fear of the unknown.

It leaves Rey pacing her room in an X, crossing from one side to the other then pivoting and turning on her heel and going right back. The time is drawing nearer. Poe will be expecting her soon, and first she'll have to find a way out of her room undetected and somehow make it to the rooftop.

A challenge in itself, but also one Rey isn't so sure she even wants to take.

Speaking to Poe… she could get dragged down to something dark. Her life had finally started to change direction for the better and she'd turned over a new leaf. And her marriage to Kylo, temporary though it may be, was as close to a respectable position as she could ever dream of having in her life.

So surely it would be better for her not to go? To stay out of whatever Poe and the Resistance were planning and keep her life clean?

Rey stops herself when she realizes she was fiddling with her wedding ring. She'd taken to only wearing it in public and then only when she absolutely must. Now, when it's near midnight and she's completely alone, the band of metal should be securely tucked away in it's little velvet home for the night.

Something inside her, however, compelled to put it back on. It was a symbol of her confinement. A gift from a man who seemed to tell her two riddles for every half truth. The physical proof that the course of her life was no longer completely her own to decide upon.

And yet, somehow, it brings with it an odd sense of comfort. Now Rey feels like she's too close to something dangerous. If she goes to Poe, there were so many instances that could happen. She could get dragged down into a trap. She could get dragged down into the truth. She could get caught sneaking about. The reasons to stay here in her room greatly outweighed any possible positive outcome of her making the rendezvous.

She should stay. She will stay. She won't go to him. She can't get herself into trouble for something she knows nothing about.

With that settled, Rey nods and starts to twist her wedding ring back off. There's a small private bath attached to her room and, if the water is still hot at this time of night, perhaps a long soak will help to calm her frayed nerves?

And then the box of presents she'd been given catches her eye. She had been pacing around them, too lost in thought to give them much attention, but now they give her an idea. The training out Kylo had given her was all black. Why she didn't know, the man seemed to have an odd fixation with the morbid color. If she were to wear it now and be very, very careful… it was night. The guards had no reason to suspect anything of her. It should be easy to slip out undetected and gods know that Rey has managed much greater feats than hiding in the shadows.

But of course that would only be relevant if she were to go. She had already decided she wasn't going to and now, as the midnight hour draws closer, a solid knot of tension starts to twist in her stomach.

Rey picks the training garments up and contemplates them. Even for something so simple in design, it was made of the highest quality. A soft, supple fabric that was both practical in allowing her ease of movement as well as far more modest than even her most covering of dresses.

It had been an unexpected kindness form her husband to give this to her. That makes her decision all the harder. In an odd way that she'd rather not explore, there was a part of Rey that… she had no loyalty to Kylo, he hadn't earned it, but she still had to reluctantly admit that he had done so much for her. The opportunity he's given her is less than once in a lifetime and, despite the countless negatives to his nature and behavior that Rey could think of, there were still pieces of him she couldn't help but feel drawn to.

On some level she owes him, Rey knows this. Just like she knows that whatever Poe was going to say to her was probably something that could be very dangerous for her husband, the crown prince of Alderaan.

And now she's close to getting caught in the middle. Being pulled in so many directions by people she honestly barely knows. If she's going to do this…

She _has to_ go, doesn't she? She has to know. She's not agreeing to anything. Hearing her old contact out commits her to nothing. Knowledge is power, though, and here she seems to have so very little of it.

Gods what a decision. Rey makes it quickly though. Gives herself no chance to change her mind and it's better that way.

She strips out of her nightgown quickly, noting how the beams of moonlight are stretching long through the bars of her window. It's nearly time. If she's going to go, she needs to go now.

The training garment seems to fit her almost perfectly, like it had been tailored for her even though Rey knew that wasn't the case. And while it was smooth and sleek and comfortable, it was also rather more lurid than she had expected. While the sheer silks of her dresses skimmed and teased with their fluttery movements, this material clinged to every swell of her. The final effect once she donned it and looked in the mirror was a reflection of a confident and capable woman. That was the spirit the garment tried to create, though it was rather ruined by the deep set fear Rey recognized in her own face.

Last chance to change her mind.

She doesn't. Because she has no true choice.

The window. That may be her best chance. Most likely there are guards patrolling outside as well, but it would be close to impossible to slip past them in the hallways.

The window itself could be swung open to let the warm night breeze in, but beyond it were iron bars. For her security, she knew, because it wasn't like they could just have the palace so open without them, but they would still cause a great hindrance to her sneaking out.

Or they _could_ have caused a hindrance, had they not already been tampered with. The area of the frame where the bars are secured into is strategically cracked. Rey has to frown and bring a candle closer to see it, but indeed someone has deliberately rigged the bars to be removable. It takes a strong effort on her part, but with a few grunts and some muscle work she manages to pry out three of them to make a large enough space that shew could slip out.

This had been done recently. They hadn't been like that last night.

Poe. He had told her to take a walk. Directed her to go in a different direction that her room. He must have done this after they had separated.

A ripple of displeasure crawls along Rey's spine at the realization. He had been in her room without her knowledge. Being a little territorial was part of her nature, but his presence here meant yet another threat she had to be aware of: if a 'palace guard' could sneak into her room undetected, so surely could someone else. She wasn't near as safe here as she had tried to reassure herself she was.

The ring and the book. She needs to hide those. The Resistance's ring was beyond damning, but it was small enough that Rey could simply drop it inside one of the bottles of lotions and face tonics that had been provided to her on her vanity and she had no real idea what to do with. It will be perfectly secure there for now, until she can find a better place for it.

The book, however, that raunchy depraved tome of perversion, was less damning and more just plain and wholly embarrassing. She'd tossed it into a corner and had tried not to think about it further. She'd failed terribly, however, and now shame joins the unease in her stomach as she picks the wretched novel up and tries to find a hideyhole for it.

Curiosity overtakes her almost as quickly as her flushed cheeks. Just one little look? A short peek won't hurt her. It's a _book_ for kriffs sake. Just pieces of paper and pencil and…

And there are a lot of texts to go along with the immodest images. It's an instruction book, of all things. Each drawing of a couple entangled is paired with a matching text that explains in _great_ detail what is going on.

Rey's eyebrows shoot up to the ceiling as she contemplates a particular unfeasible looking positioning of limbs. The words to the piece provide little insight and simply make her more confused as the pose promises 'great pleasure for both' and yet how is _that_ even possible? Rey isn't even entirely sure what the illustrated couple on the page are doing, let alone how they could enjoy the tangle they've found themselves in.

 _Let me know if you have any questions regarding any of what you read._

Kylo had said that in his note to her. The cheek of the man. He had to have known that such obscenities were too far below the scope of her knowledge, didn't he?

Rey grimaces and snaps the book shut. There are several pictures decorating her walls, and she picks the one with the heaviest and most ornate frame to slip the book behind.

There, that's sorted. Now it's time to be off and then back again as quick as her legs can take her.

* * *

Movement. Running, jumping, crouching, and lurking.

This is what she had missed. It had only been two days since her wedding, but already her body had sorely missed the chance to exert itself.

Her heart rate is up, both from the exertion and the tension, and there would be a sheen to her skin if the palace roof didn't have a steady breeze to cool her down.

Poe's note had said nothing beyond the place and time. The palace roof is a wide and multileveled expanse of slopes and chimneys and overhangs. Ample space for Rey to hide from the two lethargically pacing guards making their rounds. Neither of them are Poe, of this she's certain. They have the wrong build and the wrong armor as well. But where is he?

How ironic would it be if he was the one to stand her up after she had spent the first half of the night contemplating doing exactly that to him?

Or perhaps this truly was a trap then? Could there be an ambush waiting right around every corner that she darts into as she makes her way across the palace rooftop? Or… or maybe he wanted her out of her room then? Could he or someone be in there now, trying to-

A glint of light. No, not a glint, a deliberate flicker. It peeps at her from the inkiest pool of shadows flowing around the base of the central tower. One blink. Three blinks. One blink. Not from a candle or the like, but perhaps from a piece of metal being made to catch the moon just so?

The last chance to turn around, but Rey is already far to invested in this to even think about that anymore.

She moves quickly and with near silence. The close fit of her training outfit is essential to her approach. Clad like this, she can nearly slip right beneath the guards noses, but she still waits for them to pass and turn out of sight before she makes her way to the tower.

When she reaches it, practically burying herself into the shadows the structure offers her, Rey finds a heavy wooden door open a crack. Inside is more darkness, but she can feel more than see subtle movement inside.

Rey looks over her shoulder once more, simply to be as sure as she can be that no one other than Poe is watching her. Then she opens the door and slips inside, disappearing into the darkness of a new part of the palace and the mysteries it will surely bring.

* * *

author note:

Howdy everyone! Given the situation over at tumblr I'm still going to keep my account there but I'm not going to be very active anymore, but you can still find me now on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight. I HAVE just started a new twitter though! Me, on twitter, hath hell frozeth over? Well actually I'm really enjoying the Reylo community there and wondering what the heck took me so long to give it a try! You can find me on twitter at Ava_Avdal and I hope to see you there! :)

And we have, ladies and gentlemen, reached the point of classic story structures where the hero(ine) receives a call to action and initially rejects it. Of course that rejection didn't last long, but it was critical for Rey to come to terms with going to see Poe at her own pace. Now, of course, she's about to really get into something deep because, when The Call is given, it must at some point be answered.

Next chapter:

Rey finds out something that she can't ignore, and it's time for her and Hubby to spend some more time together.

* * *

comment replies:

Guest #1: Glad you liked this chapter! Thanks for commenting!

Guest #2: You got it! Hopefully I'll have a more regular update schedule now : )

Scarlettsky: Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying this story! Rey's certainly found herself in quite the tangled web hasn't she? Thanks so much for commenting!

Guest #3: I almost went that way with the book, but the other wife's diary may make it's appearance as well, we'll just have to wait and see! : )

Anonymous: Thank you for commenting! U;m really glad you're enjoying this story so far : )

burnt-silver: Thank you so much for your lovely and thoughtful review! I love Kylo being a smug bastard, there's a lot of Han in him even if he doesn't admit it lol. I hadn't intended this to be a slow burn but… I think maybe it's going to be? I'd love for them to be burning up those sheets but it's just not time yet. Not even close to that point yet, but hang in there! And again thank you for commenting! I hope you read and enjoy this next chapter too!

.Feather: Never heard of Night of the Beast but I'll have to check it out! Our couple need to have some more time together, fighting and sparring and all around getting under each other's skin. it's kind of what they do best, right? Next chapter we'll (start to) uncover what's going on with the resistance so I hope you'll check it out when it's ready : ) thanks so much for commenting!

ToughSpirit: I'm glad this chapter worked out for you! I wasn't so sure about it but it seems to be alright. Oh and you know naughty miss Rey isn't going to be able to resist her curiosity about that book! More Reylo scenes coming up soon, promise!

Guest #4: I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen: Oh I love rom com tropes, I may even try to squeeze in the huddling for warmth trope because that's my favorite! Thanks again for commenting and I hope you check out the next chapter when it's ready too!

KMK101: Sorry for the delay in updating but I hope it was worth the wait! Thanks so much for commenting!

Guest #5: Glad you liked this chapter! I'll try to update more regularly from here on out! Thanks for commenting! : )


	6. Deep Decisions on a Dark Night

Chapter summary:

Where Rey talks with the other side (or is that the first side?), and debates with herself if she should go to her husband in the middle of the night. Cue ubiquitous 'happy to see her' joke.

* * *

The door brought Rey into a small upper landing connecting the rooftop to the castle. It was filled with wooden boxes, a spiral staircase plunging down into dark shadows, and not one but _two_ familiar faces.

Poe was one of them, and he stood to the near side of Rey. He was still dressed like one of the palace guards as she'd last seen him, but his helmet had been taken off and now rested on top of a box behind him.

Rey blinks at him mutely, studying the new worry lines that traced along his face that hadn't been there those few years ago when he had been an underworld contact to her. She also can't help but notice his almost amusingly disarrayed helmet hair. A fluttering notion that her husband would most certainly not be caught in such a state skims across Rey's mind before she brushes it aside and turns her attention to the third party in the room.

"You never told me your name," Rey says to the petite, redheaded woman. "When we met in the harem you were with those four others, but I never heard your name."

It was that girl that had been with Nevan and her posse of harpies. She has seen her and Nevan later that day in one of the back rooms of the harem together. Something about her had stood out to Rey even from the beginning. She was too quiet. Too pretty to be trusted. And now she was here.

"I'm with the Resistance," she tells Rey. "We need your help."

It's brazen to out herself like that so plainly. The smarter half of Rey wants her to turn on her heel and run out and away from whatever this is.

Yet Rey stays where she is, determined to find out what she's seemingly about to be dragged into.

"I have no reason to help you" Rey tells them both. "I can hear you out, but that's all I'll do."

"Please," the other woman implores. "You can call me Alyss. That's how I'm known in the harem. I can't risk telling you my real name, but I'm putting my faith and trust in you, Rey."

"We both are," Poe agrees.

A sinking pit starts to form in Rey's stomach. She shoots the unusually silent Poe an accusatory look and he visibly swallows.

"Rey- we need to know we can trust you. Your Uncle said we could, but we need to hear it from you yourself."

Rey stiffens, her lungs stuttering slightly on the breath she had been sucking in.

"My… U _ncle Luke_ told you that?"

Suddenly the already small room feels crushingly claustrophobic. The notion that she's been somehow set up hits Rey hard, making her shuffle backwards until she's flush with the door to the outside.

Poe steps closer, but stops when Rey glares at him, her fight or flight instincts rising up and tensing through her limbs.

"Please, Rey. There is a great deal at stake right now. Things are in motion. Both your uncle's and many other lives are hanging in a very delicate balance."

Rey look from him to the other woman. Alyss, or whatever her name really is, stares back imploring. An odd tactic since Rey doesn't even know the woman. Poe is pushing the limits of their association enough as it is.

After a moment of standoff Rey sighs, her shoulders slumping as she leans heavily against the door for emotional support.

"What do you want? Yes, you can tell me, and I won't speak of it to anyone, but that's _all_ I will promise."

Poe steps back, crossing the small room to pick up his guards helmet.

"There are more of us like me, Rey. The Resistance has several operatives working within the palace. We are… we believe an opportunity to overthrow the Alderaan throne may be presenting itself soon."

He turns the helmet around in a circle and Rey waits, fidgeting impatiently with the hem of her tunic. It's the other woman who speaks next.

"For your own safety we won't tell you more than that," she says. "Not until you need to hear it, and only if you choose to side fully with us."

Rey can't help but wonder how much of their attempts to show she has a say in this is sincere.

"So what do you want from me, then?" she asks. "Even if I wanted to help your with your… insurrection, I suppose to call it, but I have no power here. None at all, and beyond that I'm scarcely even liked. There's nothing I can do for you that someone else couldn't do far better."

Poe shakes his head then.

"That's not true," he tells her. "You can be our eyes and ears. Help us to keep a close eye on the movements and words of the Prince. That once would have been Alyss's job, but Prince Kylo has taken such a clear favor to you. We need you to stay close to him and watch even closer."

"The whole palace is murmuring about your apparent dislike of the Prince," the redhead adds before Rey can answer. "Is that true, or did we misunderstand your true affection for him?"

Rey tries not to flinch. The question was perhaps honest enough, but it still felt like an accusation. At least she referred to Kylo as 'the Prince' and not _her_ husband as well, or Rey is fairly certain she might have slapped her.

"Kylo is an arrogant lech!" Rey tells them. "He has no regard for anyone other than himself! But if you think I can somehow sway him-"

"Keep him off our trail," Poe interrupts. "We are waiting for our time, and we believe it's drawing soon. His mother, the Queen, hasn't been seen for months and we… we have suspicions. If there is to be a shift in the Alderaan throne, this might be our only chance."

Rey had wondered about that. Kylo had spoken only briefly of his mother, but it had been with a fondness. However, the Empress hadn't been seen in public for so long. Allegedly she was overseas, but what if what Poe was telling her was right?

"The current Prince is unfit in every way to be a leader," Alyss tells her. "People are out there starving and fighting on the streets, and even now he leads a life of idleness and decadence. This might be the only chance we have in this generation to bring a real change and put the power back with the people of Alderaan where it belongs."

Rey had lost count of how many times in her old life she had cursed the kingdom's royal family. All the times she had seen the waste and conceit of the wealthy few while others like herself and all those even less fortunate had barely been able to survive from one day to another.

And now she was here. Dressed up, everything she needs provided for, and even after only a few days she was starting to grow spoiled.

"And Uncle Luke?"

The knot in Rey's stomach twists again. Had he planned this from the very beginning then?

"He told us not to have you put in any danger, Rey," Poe says. "He brought you here because he believed that the Prince would take favor to you, but he made us promise you would have no part in anything that would place you at risk."

Rey fights to swallow down the rising emotion. She shakes her head tensely, and Poe and Alyss both edge a little closer at her obvious indecision.

"Simply be a distraction, Rey. Keep his attention on you and not us. Perhaps at times be a messenger or a middleman. That's all we ask of you."

"And you don't believe that will put me in danger?"

Poe pauses, rolls his jaw, then slowly nods.

"Perhaps it will. We can't lie about that. It already has to another of our agents."

Rey frowns and starts to brush the comment aside, then something dawns on her.

"Another one of your… Nevan spoke of a harem sister who had become ill. Is-"

"Paige," Alyss interrupts. "Yes. She had been one of our best operatives. She had convinced the Prince to take a great liking to her and it had been our hopes she could sway him. Perhaps, given enough time, she could have even reached him and convinced him to allow a change in power peacefully. We would have and still are willing to offer that: to let the Alderaan family stay on the throne, but only as figureheads. The real power would be where it belongs."

Rey doesn't know her husband well, hardly at all truly, but even still she knows that he would never agree to such a deal. His pride seemed to only be bested by the size of his ego.

"What happened to her?" she asks, dipping her voice low.

Poor Poe looks so uncomfortable, and a few tense moments pass before Alyss answers her question.

"She died. A very mysterious illness, though of course we suspect it was more than that."

"…I see. Nevan? One of the others?"

Rey had been expecting that, given the harsh welcome she had received for the much smaller slight of simply existing. Poe shakes his head, though.

"It could have been. We don't know. There are as many people who would like to see Prince Kylo come to throne as there are who want the position for themselves. He is man with many enemies, Rey, so please don't think your uncle asks this of you lightly."

Rey closes her eyes. It takes a bold effort to her voice from wavering.

"I will try to help," she says. "But I mean it that there is very little I can do. If I see something, or hear something, then-"

"That's all we ask," Poe promises. "Just let us know. Tell what you hear to Alyss if it's safe, or I will be in contact until I need to move."

Rey turns then, eager to leave before she becomes any more complicit in this scheme than she already is. She rushes out the door before either Poe or the other woman can say anything else.

Then she flits back through the shadows along the nearly empty rooftop, now suddenly more eager for the sanctuary of the palace walls than she had ever been before.

* * *

Only once Rey is safely back inside her room does she allow her feelings to finally come out.

She cries softly, tears of pure frustration mixed with uncertainty and an edge of the bite of betrayal. Rey muffles the sound of her sobs with the wadded up silk sheets from her bed, trying to work her way through the maelstrom of emotions silently. The whole palace is still at this dark hour of the night, probably sometime closer to three than two in the morning. No one should be out and about, but if they were the last thing Rey needs now is for someone to hear her weeping.

Uncle Luke… he set this up, then? Of course he set her marriage up, Rey knew that from the beginning, but she had thought before that it had been a union of money and stability. That her "uncle" had been trying to provide a better life for her. Perhaps by extension tot hem both, but she had hardly begrudged him that after he'd done so much and taken her under his wing.

Or maybe not. Maybe she had just been a pawn for him to move.

The thought of that stings the hardest in Rey's heart. Makes her eyes burn even after her tears have come and gone. She didn't want to believe it. She _couldn't_ , because that would too much. An impossible betrayal from one of the few -if not the only- person she has let herself come to rely on.

It takes Rey a good few minutes to come back from her miserable cycle of thoughts and doubts. Maybe it's because it's so late and everything seems magnified in the dark of the night. Maybe because she's so utterly in the dark in do many ways. Maybe she's looking at this the wrong way?

 _Uncle_ Luke… so much of him is forever an enigma to her. He took her in when she desperately needed the shelter, but he was never a man to open himself up to her. He was reserved. Stoic. Supportive and kind, but distant. That was fine, she was rather the same way. Still, though, Rey knows she must be fair to him. If what Poe said was true, that she had been bound by marriage to Kylo for reasons beyond simply marriage to a _prince_ , then Rey reluctantly must give her Uncle the benefit of the doubt. For now. He must have had a reason to do that, and it must have been it very, very good one for him not to tell her and bring her into the fold.

It had _better_ be a very, very good one.

Rey tries to pull herself together, starting to swipe at her snotty face with her sleeve before remembering that now even her simple training clothes are far to nice for such a treatment. A silk scarf gets the job instead, and she quickly starts to change out of the all black ensemble.

There's no point in going back to bed. It's now closer to the start of day than night and she could hardly sleep regardless. Not when Rey finds herself so terribly, terribly lonely as she does now. In a way, she just promised to betray her own husband. Kylo was such in name only, true, but it still felt so wrong.

And that's what compels her to go and see him now. He had offered her an invitation to speak with him whenever she wanted to. Sort of.

Or… or technically not _exactly_ , but her husband had certainly made such a song and dance about wanting to win her affections. And she needs to see him now. To search her feelings for right and wrong.

So she'll surprise him in the middle of the night in his bedroom. How he treats her at this interruption will either make her decision crystal clear or that much harder.

Rey picks as simple of a dress as she's been given, which isn't to say much since her whole wardrobe seems to consist of sheer satins and sheerer silks and one lone black catsuit. An embroidered satin it is then, followed by the thicker of her two outer robes. Next she debates on the slippers before choosing to make a show of rebellion and go barefoot. Tucking the keys into he rocket, smoothing her messy hair as much as she can.

Then she slips out, closing her door as quietly as the echoing lock allows. Three in the morning now or maybe a little past that and the hallways are bone still. The few nighttime candles are burning low, creating an irregular flickering that tries to set her nerves on edge. It fails, though,. Because Rey is already too wrung out to care. Let someone try and stop her. They won't. Not now. She's going to see her _husband_ now, and no doubt that's a terrible idea, but if she can't sleep then bloody well he won't be able to either.

Rey relies on muscle memory and instinct alone to take her to the wing of the palace where his room must lie. It's an odd thing, even though she had never been there before, somehow her feet can find the way, almost like there's some invisible string leading her forward.

Maybe the shadows are playing tricks with her mind after all. Rey picks up her pace, tightening her robe firmly and the only sound she makes is the soft pat of her feet against the marble floor.

* * *

Along the way Rey had passed two rounds of guards on patrol.

They had both stopped her, but in a very polite sort of way. Again speaking to her in an odd and unknown tongue, and there was a tone of confusion and presumed concern to whatever they were saying to her.

Rey had no time for that. She had waved them away and pushed past, which they had both allowed with an even greater air of confusion. Her husband may be many things, but at least so far he had been honest that she wasn't a prisoner here.

When she gets to the royal wing of the palace Rey finds the gymnasium she had been in earlier. That way had been a dead end, but a few more twists and turns in another direction takes her to what she can guess must be the royal family's bedrooms. Five heavily ornate doors line the sides, two on the right and three on the left. More than for the surviving members of the family, though perhaps a few were reserved for their closest friends?

Regardless, only one seems to have seen recent use, though, and it's an easy guess from the two guards that stand outside it and eye her through the slitted holes of their black metal masks. These ones are different then either the standard patrols or the higher ranking guards like Poe was pretending to be. They towered above her forbidding, leaving Rey wondering for the thousandth time if she was about to make yet another terrible mistake after a day full of them.

"Hello," she offers.

Rey keeps her voice low and she gives the guards a little curtsy. They stay silent, but through the slit in their masks Rey can see their dark eyes slide to each other and then back to her.

"I- I would like to see my husband now."

It should have seemed obvious, unless Rey was in the wrong place which she doubted. She waits, expecting them to either open the door for her or turn her away.

They do neither. They stay silent, and so still Rey isn't completely sure if their even breathing. She shifts from foot to foot before taking a step forward and moving to open the door herself. Now one of the guards stops her. Not with his words but with a gloved hand on her shoulder and Rey freezes to the spot. The oddest feeling sweeps over her, rather like a stiff breeze is sweeping through her mind. It lasts only a breath and only over the surface of her thoughts before it's gone along with the offending hand.

Rey stumbles slightly, now both a little dizzy and suddenly fearful. The guard returns to how he was before, a tall and unmoving gargoyle that hardly moves.

The urge to turn on her heel and flee is strong, but that would mean putting her back to whatever manner of beings these things are. Instead, Rey steps forward again and quickly raps on the door with a tight fist. The sound echoes terribly against all the silence, and there's no answer from inside. Rey looks again at the guards who watch her, their masked faces almost totally hidden by the shadows of the dim corridor.

They let her open the door, though. It's not locked, though probably it doesn't need to be when it's otherwise guarded as it is. Rey opens it just enough to slip inside and close it behind her as soon as the swirling hem of her skirts will let her.

Kylo's bedroom is smaller than she'd expected, and very dark. The only light in fact is coming from the bright streams of moonlight pouring down from a large skylight window. Rey steps under it and looks up, marveling at all the stars she can see. If her own room had a view like this, she might be more inclined to it.

"When I can't sleep I like to follow the path of the moon."

Kylo's deep voice startles Rey so much she jumps back out of the moonlight. It had come from somewhere to the side and low, and when Rey squints in the darkness she can faintly make out the dark shape of a bed with a pale shape on top of it.

"What?" she asks, not having paid attention.

A soft creek and the sound of fabric sliding against itself answers her, followed by a soft clearing of his throat.

"I like to watch the moon too. When I can't sleep. If it's full or nearly full I can see it through the window for almost the whole night. When it gets to where you are I know it's almost dawn."

The room is still and slightly too cold for Rey's liking. Her eyes struggle to adjust to the severe darkness, and now she can see more paleness and the start of an outline to a body. If Kylo's wearing anything, it's not much.

Rey turns her back to him when she hears the bed creak again. He makes some sound, a click or a clunk like he's picking something up from the bedside table.

When nothing happens and the quiet threatens to become too much, she looks back over her shoulder at him. Even through the darkness she can see his eyes watching her, though she can't make out his expression.

"I… I used to watch the stars and moon every night," she finally says. "I taught myself all the constellations. Made some of my own up, too."

She hears Kylo laugh softly and she blushes despite the coolness of the room. Somehow she always seems to be doing that around him over nothing.

"Do you think that's funny?" she asks, turning back away as the pale form shifts and she can start to see a little _too_ clearly.

"That you were all alone as a child and these were the games you'd play with yourself? Of course, not, it's devastating to even think about."

His voice is too soft. She doesn't like that tone on him. It hits her then how much of a mistake this truly was. She _can't_ let herself feel anything for the Prince. Not before with their agreement and certainly not now. She had wanted company, had _needed_ it, but not at such an uncertain price.

"Rey, your uncle told me how you lived all alone out in the desert. That's why I mentioned the moon. Because I thought you would understand. You'd understand what it's like to wait for the day when the night is too long."

Understand? How could _he_ possibly understand? This spoiled, entitled, grown up brat. He couldn't possibly imagine the things she's been though, and on that the Resistance had been absolutely right about him.

Still though, Rey sighs, forcing her hackles back down. She gets the distinct feeling that her husband is _trying_ , at least. Perhaps trying to open himself up to her a little in the hopes that she'd do the same.

That didn't help. Rey has no intentions of sharing anything with him, though she still doesn't know exactly what made her so compelled to see him tonight at all. She had expected Kylo to either be cross at her or throw himself at her. Now that he has done neither she's at a loss.

"Do you have a lamp you can light?" she asks quietly. "I don't like how dark it is in here."

A pause, and then an equally soft reply.

"It's the middle of the night, Rey. It's supposed to be dark because I was sleeping. Or trying to sleep."

The 'why are you here' implication is obvious, even though he doesn't come out and say it. Rey hears him make movement, and in the time it takes for him to light a match and then a candle she still hasn't come up with an answer to give him.

"I had… you had said that..."

Every attempt to start stops short on her tongue. Rey turns to him and then immediately looks down, pondering the intricacies of the patterned carpet below her feet.

The modesty of her eyes was protected only by a sheet – black of course- piled around her husband's waist. Most of his legs and the upper half of him were completely bare, answering any questions she might have had about what manner he prefers to sleep.

"Rey? You were saying something?"

The lilt in his voice is undeniable. Rey grimaces, hating how effortlessly he can get the upper-hand on her without even having to try.

"You're a pig-headed oaf with no manners at all."

Kylo snorts. The bed creaks again as he flops down off his elbows and Rey glances up. One day she's going to wipe that damnable crooked smirk off his face.

"Thank you, wife. I'm glad you came all this way to tell me that."

He watches her through the messy strands of his hair which now fans out over his pillow and blocks half his face from her.

"Do you want me to leave, then?" she snaps.

The eye she cans eye blinks, his dark brow frowning.

"I don' know why you came here, Rey, so I can hardly answer that."

He rolls his shoulders in a shrug and drops one of his hands to rest on his stomach while the other picks at the pristine second pillow next to him.

It's Rey's turn to frown at that. She eyes the overly large bed suspiciously, noticing how it seems to dominate the whole room in an ocean of black satin.

"I'm surprised your bed's empty."

Another chuckle. The hand on his stomach strums its fingers almost as if it's daring her to let her attention drift downward.

"It doesn't have to be."

And of course there it is. Every time Rey starts to see something good in him her husband finds the perfect thing to say to infuriate her.

She crosses her arms tightly over her chest and glares at him, fighting the inexplicably strong urge to seize the nearest object and throw it on the ground in a childish fit.

Kylo laughs softly again, then he sighs. The offending hand lifts back up to his head to push the hair out of his face.

"Rey… why are you here?"

She pouts. He pouts back, mocking her expression.

"I was lonely. I made the mistake of thinking you could offer companionship."

It's not even a half answer. Rey looks up at the window and it's moon as she feels the weight of her husband's gaze on her.

"Did you expect me to say something like 'you have no idea, now come on over and I'll show you'?"

Rey's cheeks warm again as she shakes her head.

"Something like that, yes," she admits.

Another silence. This time it stretches on and on. Rey makes no move to leave, though. What if Kylo's challenging her? Daring her to back down and run away again just like she had this afternoon?

In fact it's her husband who eventually gives in first. He makes a sort of self-important harrumph noise, and Rey sees him point at something behind her from the corner of her vision.

"Over there," he says. "Along the back wall. I have many books there. Pick out a good one and read me a bedtime story."

Rey blinks. She looks over her shoulder. Indeed, along the far side of the room is an expansive bookshelf. Below it lies a desk and a scattering of papers. Immediately the idea that there might be something there of interest to the Resistance pricks in Rey's mind, and she looks back from the wall to her husband.

"A bedtime story?" she asks, deliberately making her voice as thick with condescension as she can. "You can't be serious. Is that what you have your other wives do for you?"

Kylo smirks again and Rey rolls her eyes. She had walked right into that one, hadn't she?

"Well apparently I'm a selfish, I'm spoiled, and I expect to get whatever I want whenever I want it. So yes, Rey, I want a bedtime story and I want it _now_."

Rey had been walking towards the bookshelf but she stops to look back at Kylo in surprise.

"People tell you that? Really?"

He shrugs. Props his head up with a bent arm as he watches her.

"Not to my face, of course. But I hear them. They mean it, so I might as well act the part, right? Now pick a good one, darling wife, though I'm afraid I don't have anything _illustrated_ to captivate your attention."

He just had to bring _that_ up didn't he? Her husband truly was an insufferable ass.

Rey stomps to the books and makes a show of looking them over.

"I'm surprised you have anything else," she mutters, glancing quickly at the papers nearby. Letters by the look of them, and in Kylo's distinctive handwriting, though it's too dark on this side of the room to see more.

"I don't need them," he answers back, sounding every bit as smug as she would expect him to be, "now try the book with the blue spine. It's short stories, and I haven't read it in quite a while."

Bafflingly, most of Kylo's books seem to be _romances_. Not tawdry sex tales or, perhaps, dull-as-a-butterknife tactical guides like Rey might have guessed. Rather, the tomes that were familiar to her were sweet romances or family stories or the occasional epic tale of adventure and love.

When she reaches the blue book she pulls it out and holds it up to the light.

"Tales from the Old Country."

The cover is faded and the spine is creased. The pages have a softness to them that could only be caused by years of being read and reread.

"A favorite, I take it?" she asks as she walks back with the book in hand.

"From many years ago," Kylo answers. "Now have a seat and start with the first one, if you would be so kind."

Rey looks around. The only chair in the bedroom was back behind her next to the desk where there was hardly any light.

Kylo pats the edge of the bed, and Rey raises an eyebrow.

"Plenty of room," he tells her. "You said it yourself."

Rey eyes the empty swath of silk covered mattress suspiciously.

"I don't think that-"

"Would it help if I promise to keep my hands to myself? Or at least to try? I can't guarantee that the sight of my wife's permanently scowling face won't push me over the edge of self control."

Rey snaps the book closed and tests the weight of it against her palm.

"And if you go over that edge you'll find your face very well acquainted with the spine of this book, understand?"

Kylo smiles and pulls his hand back, retreating it back to his side of the bed. Rey sits on the very edge primly, trying to match the elegant and stiff posture she'd seen some of the other wives take when they were trying to look proper.

Then she starts the first chapter, beginning her narration stiffly at first then quickly warming to the rather exciting story that unfolds. True to his word, Kylo keeps his distance, though every time Rey glances at him he's smiling at her until he finally falls asleep.

Rey blows out the candle before she leaves, retreating back into the tangle of palace hallways just as the moon starts to fade into the glow of dawn.

* * *

Author Note:

Okay, last chapter was so short but hopefully this one made up for it? And how about Kylo, he's about as smooth an operator as his granddaddy was. But what would Reylo be without awkward, confusing flirting? Now that I've had Paige's character introduced, of course I have to bring Rose in to help balance out all these OCs! She won't be for a little while, I don't think, but she'll definitely have a role as we approach the second act of this story.

And, as always, you can find me still on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and now on twitter at Ava_Avdal : )

Next chapter: Where Rey discovers that the only thing that moves faster than the speed of light is the speed of gossip.

* * *

Comment replies:

Guest #1: Ha! Rey didn't know what to expect either, so you'd better believe she had her nerves up! Thanks for commenting : )

Paul Lenzen: So glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting and sticking with this story despite it's irregular updates!

Bendemption: Well, she was alright… for now. *ominous music plays*

thanks for commenting!

.Feathers: Don't worry, I definitely plan on staying active in fanfiction and the fandom, just what I meant is that I'm probably not going to use tumblr much anymore. You can still find me here or ao3 or, if you'd like a quick chat or just say hi, I'm now on twitter at Ava_Avdal : ) thanks for commenting!

Guest #2: I'm so glad you liked this chapter! Fear not, I'm sticking with this story til the end, don't worry! This is my me having fun story, and maybe the plot is kind of rambling and cliched but that's fine, I'm having fun writing it and it means so much that others like it too! Thank you for commenting!

Guest #3: Thank you for the support! Hopefully updates can be more often now that my schedule's opened up! Thanks for commenting! : )

ToughSpirit: haha, I haven't quite decided about Poe yet! Right now Rey has a lot on her mind so she might now even notice, but Kylo certainly would! Thanks so much for commenting!

Mindlessmahem: commented just in time! I'm glad you're enjoying this story! I try to mix in a little humor here and there, though there's plenty of drama going on too to balance it. Thanks for commenting!


	7. Any Questions, Class?

Alternative title:

M'Lady Needs a Soothing Ointment

Author note:

LibreOffice has started screwing up lines of this file and making them jump around. I tried to correct them but please let me know if something is randomly repeated! I'll try to fix this problem before the next chapter.

* * *

Chater Summary:

Where Rey finds 1001 reasons again to not trust her new sisters, and then Kylo shows up to make things even worse.

* * *

"Now are we emphasizing your _long night_ out, or are we hiding the effects?"

If Rey was to be brutally honest with herself, she would have to admit that her knowledge of all things wasn't quite as complete as she'd like to think it was. Sure, she was an educated woman, surprisingly so given her humble background, but there were certain gaps in understanding that sometimes reared their head at awkward times.

Like now, for instance. Despite Rey being an innocent, she possessed just enough knowledge of carnality to assume that Mitaka was making some sort of double entendre. Of what, exactly, alluded her, but her traitorous cheeks still blushed nonetheless.

"I have nothing to hide," she says quickly.

Then she eyes the pots and creams and powders that Mitaka had brought with him. He deftly mixes two of them together in such a proportion to almost completely match her skin color and she sighs, weary shoulders deflating.

"Now now, M'Lady, I understand your enthusiasm about what happened last night- heavens know I've seen _that_ look before- but perhaps it might be best not to flaunt it anymore than you have to? Your sisters are already less than overjoyed that you've now consummated your marriage, there's no need to rub it in their faces."

Again Rey's blush grows, this time blooming into a full on rose fire that makes Mitaka tut as he has to adjust the compound he's about to spackle her face with.

"We- we didn't-"

Rey doesn't even know how to explain the strangely serene encounter she had with her husband to herself, let alone to the rather flamboyant barber of the harem who seemed bound and convinced she and Kylo had finalized their union.

"Hush hush, M'Lady, there's no reason to be bashful. Especially not around me. Around the others perhaps, but honestly is exactly what I'm here for." H

e swirls the thick, beige cream across the tops of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose with a feather-soft brush. Rey raises an eyebrow and fights the urge to sneeze from the gentle tickle.

"So everyone knows I went to Kylo's room last night, then?"

Mitaka only smiles in answer, tipping his head to the side and giving her a rather mischievous angled glance.

"Oh kriff," she mutters.

Another layer of the substance is applied and Rey leans forward closer to the mirror. It's such an odd thing seeing herself all fussed up like this. She can't even see her freckles, her complexion is now so flawless.

A poised hand beckoning across the air guides her back into her seat and Rey fidgets nervously with the loose fabric of her nightgown as Mitaka continues doing whatever it is he's doing to her face. He had come to her bright and early in the morning, just as soon as the first rays of light had started to warm the horizon from her bedroom window. Rey hadn't slept a wink since she'd left Kylo's room, but it hadn't been so long at all before Mitaka's arrival and him bringing the insinuation wave of gossip that ad apparently already swept across the halls of the palace.

 _M'Lady Rey had been seen walking the corridors late at night._

 _A maid had spoken to a morning guard who'd talked to a night guard who had told him M'Lady ad been seen heading to the royal wing._

 _Someone else had told someone else who had told a scullery who had told the a cook that M'Lady had been in her husband's room for over **two hours** , and when she had left she had been adjusting her robe and stumbling._

"Because it was cold and drafty and I hadn't been wearing slippers!" Rey argued.

She had left out the part that she had lingered longer than she had had to in Kylo's room to finish the chapter. Or how really all they had done was talk, and even that had been more listening than talking. No one would have believed her anyhow, and Mitaka's wry smile and low-toned offer of some sort of "soothing ointment" had snapped Rey's mouth shut faster than anything.

So apparently everyone in the whole damned palace were now convinced that she had been intimate with her husband. Rey dreads- _dreads_ \- going to the harem this morning. If her harpy sisters had been cruel to her before when she had done nothing but simply exist, she can hardly imagine how they'll be now.

"More rouge?" Mitaka asks, brandishing a small metal pot decorated with fine filigree at her.

Rey peers in. There's something pink and powdery there, and it smells faintly of berries. At this point her stomach rumbles, reminding her both of how long it had been since she'd last eaten and the one silver lining to the harem: it was filled with snacks at every corner. Life can be an awful thing, but snacking has a way of making the prospects of spending the day at the den of bitches a little brighter.

When she reaches for the offering, however, Mitaka simply nudges her hand away with the same brush. In it dips into the powder and, when he applies it to her cheeks, Rey nods in approval.

"I look like I've been exercising," she says. "That's good. Now I look like I haven't just been laying around playing music badly, gossiping, and placing shiny foil over my nails."

An amused snort is Mitaka's reply.

"No wonder your sisters have been so sweet to you," he comments.

Another phial is produced and he starts to unscrew it then stops himself.

"What's that?" Rey asks.

Mitaka shakes his head and puts the metal cylinder away.

"Nevermind. You'd only eat it, anyhow. Now let's get you dressed. You're a happily married woman now in the height of the flush of youth, it's time for you to look the part."

With great fanfare the harem's barber throws open the doors to Rey's ample wardrobe, leaving her watching in silent alarm as one diaphanous swath of fabric after another is pulled out and draped in a pile over her bed. Rey can clearly see the pattern of her bedsheets even through them, his choices are so sheer.

"I'm- I'm still going to be decent, aren't I?" she asks, standing up.

Blue. Blue and white. Blue and white and with a shiny hint of purple. Those are the colors of the loose and blowing collection of chiffon that await for her to step into. Rey waits for an underlayer that has yet to make its appearance.

"Of course, M'Lady. I always dress every wife to impress."

A quick beckon of the barber's hand and Rey reluctantly steps forward, giving up her nightgown as her last line of defense against shocking impropriety.

* * *

"Well didn't you just blossom into a woman overnight?"

"Our husband has a way of doing that, doesn't he?"

"Indeed he does, Helana. I had wondered what had taken him so long to have at the newcomer."

"Perhaps he had to get his nerve up. I know I would."

"Maybe that's why she had to tart herself up like this, to make up for her _obvious_ shortcomings."

Both Serena and Ayana's eyes slid significantly towards Rey chest. Her gown, if such a construction could be called that, was highly sheer in certain key places. Rey hadn't even realized that until she caught a glimpse of herself in the low lights of the harem. Mitaka had claimed that it would inspire confidence in her, but it had turned out to be a liability in more ways than one.

" _Sisters_ ," Rey has to force the word out through gritted teeth, "I don't know what exactly you're implying, but anything that may have gone on between my husband and-"

"Oh dear, are you sore? Is that why you're in crubby mood?"

Helana reaches out to, presumably, stroke Rey's cheek. She's immediately slapped away and Rey dodges around, hurrying past the two pseudo twins and their horrendous third party before they can subject her to any more of their tyranny.

Serena though still has the nerve to follow her, this time correcting Rey on how she 'waddles like a Bantha' and clearly she's never been taught to present herself like a lady.

Just to make a statement, some sort of statement, Rey grabs the nearest tray of snacks off a table and begins shoveling the sweet honeyed treats into her mouth by the literal handful.

"Didn't hear you, what was it you were saying?"

She deliberately garbles the words through a mouthful of food, and finally her tormentor takes the hint and disappears in a flurry of appalled scowls and heavy-handed vanilla perfume. Rey sighs then, enjoying the brief moment of reprieve. Finishing off her sweets, next she walks around the periphery of the harem, already becoming used to the disapproving glances her other sisters send her way as she goes.

Rey picks up a plate and begins to fill it with the various delicacies on offer. Dates and figs, elaborately twisted pastries, little meaty things on a stick. If it weren't for the venomous denizens of the harem, Rey could easily find this a most agreeable place.

She situates herself on a corner bench as she chows down and takes a moment to breathe and relax now that she's being left alone. At this of day, the spaces are mostly clear. Rey can't see Serena and her gang anymore, which is somewhat concerning, but it also means she has most of this main room to herself barring the occasional nearly-nude sister wife that saunters past.

Okay. So here she is. Now that she has some food in her belly after going a good many hours, Rey is starting to feel a little more optimistic about the whole harem prospect. Maybe she could get some reading done, then? The good books and one dreadful one were back in her room, but the harem's paltry library still had some ways to offer to pass the time until dinner.

Unfortunately her dreams of a relatively quiet day in prison are dashed by a clearing of the throat behind her as she moves towards the library.

When she turns, Alyss is there and she's watching Rey with a rather stern expression. Rey gapes at her, shocked that the Resistance spy would be so bold as to speak to her in the open.

"Nevan wishes to speak with you, sister."

Her tone is cold and distant. Rey hesitates before nodding. All eyes are on the two of them as Alyss leads her through to the back hallway of rooms. These were the chambers where Rey had first seen the General being… _entertained_ by Ayana and Helana, and also where she herself had hid in a closet when Nevan and Alyss had passed by.

When she and Rey are safely out of earshot of the rest of the harem, Alsyss leans close and speaks to her in a whisper.

"We must not look friendly at all with each other. Never come up to me to chat or anything like that, let me do it myself if I need to speak with you in private."

Rey nods and ponders this as she leads her forward down to the very last room. This was the exact same room where the General had been, but now when Alyss opens the door the room is well lit and free of either smoke or sex.

Inside is Nevan alone, and she tips her head at Rey and Alyss as they enter.

"Hello," she offers, her voice smoothly level.

It annoys Rey how Nevan is taller than her. She doesn't like having to look up to anyone in the harem, and especially not their seeming pack queen. The blonde in question also moves with a sort of slinky grace that serves to remind Rey how terribly out of her element she is. Rey matches Nevan's head bob as her best guess of what an appropriate greeting is.

"What's this about?" she asks.

"Serena has informed me of your terrible manners," she says. "I believe it's well overdue for the next chapter of your education. Since it seems that you're going to be staying with us now, we can't have you being an embarrassment in public, can we?"

She gestures towards the low table behind her. On it is a full dinner set up that Rey assumes she's supposed to practice on.

The urge to tell Nevan exactly where she can lodge the matching dinner plates and numerous dainty utensils is strong, but Alyss moves past her and takes a seat at one side. She studiously avoids Rey's confused gaze, though, and Rey gets it. The more they act like they dislike or have nothing to do with each other, the safer it will be for them all.

" _Fine_."

Rey rolls her eyes and scoots over to the opposite side of the table. Tries not to envision exactly where the General had been mounting one of the twins on this very same settee. Possibly right where she was sitting now, in fact.

Rey straightens up and Nevan clicks her tongue behind her. Cold hands grip Rey's shoulders and pull them back, drawing her further upright.

"Don't slouch," she says. "You have terrible enough posture when standing, no excuses for it at all sitting. Follow Alyss's example. Our second youngest wife has already had a few lessons ahead of you."

...Right. Rey tries to mirror the redhead's posture. Alyss had said something very vague about how the resistance had tried to make her Kylo's favorite. Or maybe it wasn't exactly that, but Rey hadn't paid that much attention until now. Somehow she'll have to find a way to talk to her in private, but given the intrusive nature of the harem that won't be an easy task.

"Now what?" Rey asks, only half-feigning boredom.

"Now I'm going to show you basic skills like how to eat without half your meal going down the front of your dress."

Nevan doesn't try to hide her derisive tone, so Rey doesn't try to hide her exaggerated eye-roll. Though maybe it was a fair point since the, to politely put it, décolletage area of her sheer gown was now a scratchy, crumby mess. Worth it, because it scared off her most ill-spirited sister and gave her a moment's peace, but still…

"Now," Nevan steps behind Alyss who immediately straightens up that little bit more, "pretend that your sister here is the wife of a high ranking foreign dignitary. She has invited you to the parlor for tea and polite conversation. Get started from there and I'll correct each mistake you make as they happen."

Rey frowns. This is going to be very unpleasant, isn't it?

"How long will this take?" she asks.

Nevan sighs and shakes her head.

"With you? Probably all afternoon."

* * *

Etiquette lessons in a sex room? Well that was a first, though unfortunately unlikely a last.

Rey leaves her "lesson" feel grumpy, thoroughly chided, and again desperately needing a moment's reprieve. After she had painfully blundered her way through the afternoon tea role play, she had hoped that would be the end of it. No such luck, the next hour or more had been spent with Nevan relentlessly poking and prodding at her as she attempts to teach Rey how to walk like a lady and stand like a lady. That was followed by, if it was absolutely necessary to sit or rest, how to perch precariously on the edge of appropriately ass-high objects while keeping your stomach in, shoulders back, and your hands clasped demurely over your crotch like a lady.

The last point Rey greatly wanted to argue that it would be wholly unnecessary if they didn't have to wear these ridiculously revealing gown to begin with, but after a nearly unbearable few hours, Rey managed to persevere.

Her torture was hardly over, though, because no sooner than she had stepped back out into the hall had Nevan handed her off to Ayana for 'a different sort of education'.

Alyss had been able to skip the second part of Nevan's ladylike lessons, but now the redhead spy was waiting with her head bowed low and a large velvet parcel in her arms. That was all paired with a decidedly embarrassed wince on her face.

"Um, I don't know what this is-"

"Hush and stop being difficult," Nevan scolds her, following behind her. "While your _indulgences_ last night came as a surprise, I meant it when I said I won't have you being an embarrassment to me."

The tall blonde steps to the side, blocking Rey's only route of escape back into the rest of the harem.

"Trust me, I'm not looking forward to this anymore than you are," Ayana adds.

Rey mutely lets herself be lead, or goosed with a series of pinches between the shoulder blades, to another nearby door. Alyss opens it and hands Rey the velvet package, whispering a very soft 'good luck' before scuttling off.

Inside the room is lit far dimmer than the others, but it is laid out similarly except for instead of the settee there is a large bed covered in black satin. In front of it is a table with a scattering of strange devices that look rather suspiciously like-

" _Oh you_ _can't be serious?!_ "

Rey almost shouts the words, stumbling back away from the collection of sex toys as if they were a pit of snakes. She turns to make a run for it and this time Nevan grips her arm and doesn't let go, the pointed tips of her nails digging uncomfortably into Rey's skin.

"You want to sleep your way to the top, you're going to learn to do it properly," the blonde hisses. "Normally Serena gets the task of showing the new recruits the details, but given your association with each other I was kind enough to spare you with Ayana's company instead. I can always change your mind, if you prefer, but be warned that sometimes Serena loses her patience."

Whatever the hell that means, but when Nevan lets her go Rey reluctantly shuffles inside. Better to choose the better of two evils, since apparently that's what her life is like now.

Nevan closes the door behind her as she goes, leaving Rey and one half of the fake twin duo eyeing each other up and down.

"Kriff, let's just get on with this," Rey says.

For someone ostensibly quite pretty, Miss Ayana certainly seems to wear a scowl well. She gestures at a chair with a sharp flick of her finger and then goes over to the table and picks up a book. Rey immediately recognizes that it was one of the others from the closet where she'd found the instructional _tome_.

"Right then," Ayana says tightly as she opens to the first page, "let's start with the basics. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

* * *

Rey has had some bad, terrible, no good, hideous days in her life, so it really says something when she decides that today is right up there with the best of them.

It wasn't about breaking her own convictions and seeking her husband for company when she needed it. It wasn't about getting spotted and now having her reputation forever tarnished for something she didn't even do. Nor was it the etiquette lesson, the bruised ego and prodded shoulders, the bloody well pornographically educational hour she spent with a woman she sorta kinda pretty much despised. Hell, it wasn't even the pervasive Sword of Damocles of the Resistance's scheme hanging over Rey that ruined today forever and ever.

No, it was none of that that did it in. The final straw the broke the camel's back of Rey's tenuous patience came from her husband himself.

He had shown up shortly before dinner. Apparently his arrival into the harem had been unexpected, because all at once Rey had gone from sulking quietly into her second or third glass of wine at the sidelines of the room to being treated to the repulsive spectacle of half the harem parading themselves around her husband and fawning over him. Very much like ewes circling a shepherd for a milking, and that comparison alone was enough to turn the wine to vinegar in Rey's stomach.

She tries to ignore it. Tries to study the shadows on the ceiling or the flickering cast lights of candles. The sister's soft baby-coos were impossible to drown out though.

When she looks back over at Kylo, he's still surrounded and making a fake-looking show of being overwhelmed by the attention he's receiving. Perhaps Rey _had_ overstated a tad when she said half the harem. Truthfully it's just Serena, the twins, and two other nameless sisters who are draping themselves over him, playing with his hair, or simply standing a scant breadth away in an exaggerated pose.

A little away from mess that stands Nevan, sipping her own wine and laughing at something that Kylo leans over to say to her ear.

Something deep inside Rey flares up at that. A mixture of anger, hurt, and the bitterest of jealousy. This isn't the same man she talked to so quietly last night. Not the quiet, open, and seemingly gentle prince who'd teased her before demanding a bedtime story.

No, this version of Kylo is living up to a harsh truth of every negative thing Rey has ever thought about him.

She's had enough. She's had more than enough. This is unbearable.

Rey sets her drink down, turns on her heel, and starts stomping for the door. Some of the other wives look at her in confusion, but it's Alyss who tries to stop her with a light touch on her elbow.

"Sister-"

"Shut up."

Rey pushes her away, perhaps somewhat harder than she had intended because the smaller redheaded woman stumbles before catching herself. The brief display causes a rolling murmur among the nearby wives, and finally brings Kylo to remember that she exists.

"Rey?" he calls out.

She glares sideways at him, mentally counting the paces before she's out of the harem. Kylo frowns, but his stupid expression of surprise only makes her more cross with him. He really doesn't get it, does he? What kind of a selfish _idiot_ has she been wedded to?

"Ignore her, my Prince," Serena, the sister planted front and center to his chest, coos. "She's no fun at all. Nothing like us."

Then she catches his chin, pulls his head down, and presses her lips to his.

Rey doesn't exactly remember rage screaming, but she must have because her ears are ringing. Or maybe that could be from when she flying tackled the wretched witch and sent them both slamming into the floor. Kylo had been caught in the middle of, no doubt catching a few errant elbows or knees himself, but it was as if there was a red haze surrounding all parts of Rey's vision that weren't filled with Serena's hateful face.

The other woman fights back of course, her long claw-like nails scratching and pushing as Rey's hands fight to close around her neck and give her a right proper choking.

From launch to finish it only takes a few seconds before the ever vigilant guards pry Rey away from her prey.

Kylo himself stumbles back, wide-eyed and thoroughly rumpled. Rey blinks, her rage clearing incrementally. All around her the other wives form a circle, each one of them gaping at her in disbelief.

"Well what do you know," Rey's hoarse voice confirms that yes, in fact, she had been screaming, "looks like I finally shut all of you harpies up. My lucky day after all."

With that she turns, yanking her arms free of the guard's hold on her and leaving the harem without another word.

* * *

Author Note:

Another chapter, this one didn't take me too long did it? I can't guarantee any sort of schedule but the next chapter is actually already written so I'll post it in a few days. Maybe Friday to give me time to edit?

Next chapter:

Rey's one pissed off sister wife. Looks like someone's got some apologizing to do, but you can trust Kylo not to screw THAT up too.

* * *

Comment replies:

Guest: Glad you liked it! Thank you!

ToughSpirit: Interesting idea about the Resistance! Is it alright to say that I haven't 100% figured out their exact role in this story yet? Obviously they're up to something, but with this story I'm taking a looser approach to the plotting so things are developing as we go!

And yes, Kylo's a real dufus here. He's not nearly as slick as he thinks he is, but Rey's also not nearly as immune as SHE thinks she is.

Thanks as always for commenting!

Paul Lenzen: ha! Well the Resistance isn't going to make things easy for our lovebirds, but they needed a sweet moment or two don't they? Rey needs to be careful though, she could get into epic trouble if she gets caught!

Thanks as always for commenting!

.Feathers: Glad you liked ch6! We got a little more Reylo development here in 7, but it's definitely one of those "one step forward, two steps back" kind of things. Thanks for commenting!

KMK101: Glad you liked it! I'll try to update regularly, promise!

Bendemption:

Kylo and rey still have a long way to go in this story, but they're starting to warm up to each other little by little. And the guards… well, they're probably going to have a role later on. We'll see. Thanks for commenting!

Demonegg: Oh my thank you so much for such a lovely comment! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! This one is a little different than how I normally plot and plan my fics, so it's kind of unfolding organically as I write it (though of course I do have an overarching plot in mind, never fear!)

Oh yes, the Resistance. They're up to something, aren't they? There are a lot of moving parts going on all at once, more so than in any other story I've written. I think true to the star wars universe, both side (the Resistance and the Alderaan throne) aren't completely black and white. They both have their own agendas, ditto for Luke, and I've hinted at a few of the secrets going on but you'll find out more as the story develops. Right now poor Rey is very much in the dark, And, of course, throughout all this I need to keep in mind that this is a romance first and foremost. So, yeah, lots going on in this fic!

Thank you again for your comment and I hope you enjoyed ch7 as well! : ) You might also like my No Rest for the Wicked story (complete) if you haven't checked it out before, it's my longest story by a mile but it's got a lot of fun things going on with it too!


	8. The Pretty Flush of Married Life

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay! Got badly blocked and I decide to rewrite this chapter from scratch. Also sorry for any errors, I'm posting this late at night (2nd posting of the day!) and I'm tired but if I wait gods know when I'll get this out otherwise!

* * *

All Rey could think about was getting out of there.

Going out the window, leaving the palace forever, never seeing it's hate filled walls or her husband ever again. That's all Rey wanted. All she _told_ herself she wanted.

And yet nothing could be further from the truth.

The harem guards had shadowed her only out of the chambers themselves. When she departed, she was left on her own beyond the confused gazes of the occasional passerby.

Rey moves quickly, heading immediately back to her room. On the outside, she may have looked frantic, but on the inside she was still fuming. Fuming, and now terrified.

She had attacked one of her 'sisters'. Gods know that she had provocation enough, but that didn't change the fact that she'd attacked another sister, and a high ranking one at that. That alone would be enough to put her in serious jeopardy with the harem, but Kylo himself had gotten caught in the flurry of limbs and anger.

Would she be punished for that then? Probably. But it's a punishment Rey has no intention of having to endure.

Which brought her right back to her anger.

When she slammed her door closed, she did it with _force_. The resounding bang felt right, but not nearly enough. She'd rather have her hus- have Kylo's- head caught in the door, that would have served him right.

How. Dare. He.

 _How dare he?!_

That filthy, debauched, cruel, insensitive, thoughtless, childish, lecherous pig of a man had kissed another woman. Kissed _Serena_ , who was quite possibly the sister wife Rey despised the most. And then the thick-headed _idiot_ had the nerve to look surprised at Rey's presence, let alone her reaction.

So that's how it is, then? He didn't know she was there so that's how he was going to behave? And now Rey herself was the one who was going to be punished even though he… he…

Rey wipes her face with the butter-soft sleeve of her dress, hating how even that classless gesture makes some part of herself hurt even more to ruin something so fine.

That's it. She's leaving. She's out.

Rey grabs the trunk the bottom of her closet that she had brought with her when she came here. When she hauls it out she nearly trips over the long hem of her gown in her bleary fury. It was a small trunk, so good thing it was her marriage had been so short lived or she might have had trouble storing all the keepsakes.

Keepsakes? Hardly. Keepsakes means memories, and Rey want to take nothing away from this. Nothing from Kylo. Just the items she had nicked herself to sell, and none of the…

Rey slumps to her knees then, the wind absolutely being knocked out of her as she stares at the pile of books Kylo had given her. They were a gift. Not even a selfish gift, unless you count that certain one of them in particular. People don't give her things. She finds them or makes them, but is almost never given.

And of course all it can make Rey think about is last night. She'd gone to his room and read to him, of all the strangeness. It had been a sweet moment, something far too out of place for her. She should have known it would never last.

"Goodbye then."

Rey pushes the books aside roughly, her eyes blurring even more as she watches them scatter across the floor from her careless movement. The journal Kylo had given her gets the same treatment, though that one she picks up and leaves it open on her bed to perhaps write out a goodbye note before she departs.

And that's it. That's all she had in her whole little world. A few stolen pieces of trinket, and the clothes on her back.

That's all she has to show for these last few days of her life. In one thoughtless move she had ruined everything that she had never wanted, and now she's free of it.

So why does she feel so empty?

A shiver of pure misery runs down along her spine and Rey slumps deeper into the floor. She picks up a small, engraved vase that she had purloined from the harem that had fallen out of her trunk and tosses it back in with a weak flip of her arm. And then her wedding ring catches the candlelight and she buries her face into both her hands, feeling the pinch of the not un-sizeable rock on it indent itself against her cheek.

Will she have to give that back too, then? Of course. _Of course_. It's no doubt the most valuable thing in the whole room. Surely Kylo will want it back, if for no other reason then to give to her _replacement_.

That thought is what finally overflows her tears from her resolve not to cry. She'll go back to being nothing, having even less than she did when she came here because her trust in Luke lays in tatters, and Kylo will simply find someone else prettier, better, and more willing.

Any woman in the kingdom would think she's the worst of fools for leaving now. They would tell her to stay and fight. Beg, plead, apologize, or bring the claws out harder. Do anything it takes to get back in Kylo's graces and not be thrown away to the gutter.

She should go. Or stay. Rey doesn't know what's the right thing to do, and now her own heart is aching with each beat, trying to tell her a message she's apparently too stupid to understand.

Go. Don't go.

She has _nothing_.

She'll _miss him_. Or at least the Kylo he pretended to be.

Time is wasting. If she doesn't flee and soon the choice will be taken away from her.

Except she can't bring herself to move from where she had fallen. Rey stays like that for a good few minutes, crying softly into her palms, until a booming pounding on her door snaps her head back up.

"Rey!" Kylo voice- Kylo's very angry voice- echoes from the other side. "Open up right now!"

She blinks at the door. The knocking pounds again, this time even louder and more rapid.

" _ **Rey!**_ " he shouts.

Rey flinches despite herself.

Gods, everyone in the whole karking palace will hear this. Or at least hear _about_ this, that's for certain.

A third pounding and then a silence falls. Rey holds her breath, waiting. The silence is followed by a jangle of keys, and _that's_ what immediately snaps her out of her stupor.

She rises unsteadily, tugging smooth the now rather sad looking web of garments that had once been so beguiling, and moves to the door to open it. Kylo beats her to it, though, throwing it open wide and Rey has to scuttle back otherwise it would have hit her square on the nose.

For a long moment he stares at her open-mouthed, his brows contorted into a tight V of anger. Then whatever rebuke he had been about to throw at her fades into nothingness as he takes her in. Behind him are two guards, and Rey looks from one to the other than back to her speechless husband.

"What are they here for?" she asks, bracing herself for the worst.

Her voice comes out as a thready whisper, and Kylo's expression softens incrementally. He straightens, looming tall over her, and Rey instinctively draws the mostly sheer fabric of her dress tighter over her chest.

"My own security," he answers. "They had insisted on accompanying me here after what you did back there."

He steps a shade closer, blocking Rey's view of the guards, then looks back over his shoulder to address them.

"You won't be needed," he tells them. "Return to your stations."

A beat passes, but then the guards nod and go, leaving Rey alone with her husband. He steps closer again, forcing Rey to retreat into the center of the room to keep distance as he closes the door behind him.

Now, in the softer flickering light of her bedroom, Rey can see the start of an angry red welt bloom across his cheek and jaw. Whether she did it herself by accident or Kylo had been caught by Serena's own attempts to defend herself hardly matters.

"I'm sorry!" she blurts out, trying to outrun the worst of what's to come. "Not for trying to throttle Serena because, believe me, she deserved it, but... but I am sorry to have hit you. Please..."

She stares at the ground as she recites the speech she had been preparing in her head. Kylo doesn't answer at first, and his silence only makes nerves grow more frayed.

He turns then, looking around her room. No doubt taking in the chaotic scene she had been making just a few minutes before. Rey's clothes are scattered across the floor, with the black training suit he had given her haphazardly tossed on top of the bed. Rey had thought about wearing that as she sneaked out of the palace, and now it looks all the more incriminating next to the open trunk that's not even half full.

"You're not taking much with you," he finally comments. "I guess you don't have anything to your name worth keeping."

It feels like such a slap in the face. Rey winces, scrunching her eyes close to stop even a single drop of the fresh waves of tears she feels welling up from escaping.

"No," she answers.

One word. Plain. Simple. No point denying the obvious or delaying the inevitable.

The air shifts as she feels Kylo move closer, but she still won't look at him.

"I see," he says.

Silence falls again. Rey knows so clearly that he's waiting for her to say something more. When his scrutiny becomes unbearable, she turns to flee, perhaps lock herself in the bathroom, and he catches her arm by the bend of her elbow.

"Rey."

His hand is warm against her skin. She was so used to being cold by now, either from the hardships of her old life or the near-nothing wardrobe her new one insists on putting her in. His palm is rougher than she would have thought, but warm, and there's a distinct sort of electricity that spreads along her at the extended touch.

She lets him turn her to face him. Rey's gaze flickers up to meet his eyes for just a second before she looks away again.

"Where were you planning on going?" he asks softly. "To your uncle's then? Back to your old hovel in the desert?"

Her _hov_ _el_ \- Rey tries to jerk her arm to free herself, but his grip follows her with each bounce until she gives up.

"What do you even know about my old home, Your Highness? Of my old life?"

She square her chin and tries to look brave. Tries to look like more than a scared, borderline hysterical little girl caught playing dress up.

"I know enough, _Rey_ ," he answers. Cooly. Evenly. This is a different version of him than either of the ones she knows. "I know enough that I can't imagine any situation so bad here that you would chose to return to it. We had a deal, Rey. Are you really so miserable that you can't see our month together to its end?"

Rey takes in a shaky breath. Kylo's other hand takes her other arm, keeping her from running away from his question with his gentle but firm grip.

She tries and fails on her first few attempts. Emotions. Something so intangible, and now he's asking her to put them into words. So hard to explain to him what she doesn't fully understand herself.

"It's too much," she finally says. "Putting up with you, our marriage, the agreement, the harpy wives." The Resistance, the sex lesson, the cruel whispers uttered deliberately too loud, and Uncle Luke's unknown role orchestrating all of it. "Yes, Kylo, I'm _miserable_. It's better to be free and suffering than to be taken somewhere where I don't even recognize myself."

Kylo gapes at her and Rey as to fight very hard not to roll her eyes or kick him in the shin for the stupid, dim-witted, uncomprehending look he's giving her.

"But… but you have _everything_ you could want, Rey. Food, clothing, comfort. I know your first few meeting with your sisters haven't gone well, but you _attacked_ Serena! Why, Rey? Why did you do that?"

 _Because she kissed you._

Rey almost blurts that out, but she stops herself in time.

"I… I've had a long day," she truthfully lies, "it's been too much. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Now Kylo catches her chin and tips her head up. She can see the skepticism play out across his face, and the deeper frown begin to curl his full lips down.

He's not buying it. She needs to think fast or he may well jump to the right conclusions.

"Nevan made me take a sex class with Ayana. It was horrible."

Kylo freezes stalk still, one of his hands on her shoulder and the other on her chin. He silently stares into her eyes as he processes this new piece of information for so long that Rey wonders if he hadn't perhaps misheard her.

Then his mouth twitches, curling up this time.

"You did what?" he asks, daring her to repeat herself.

Rey flushes, unsure if it's from the memory or the now amused and heated gaze her husband is giving her.

"With Ayana… there was a book and she- er, she went over some things from that. Then she had this… gods, Kylo. There was things she tried to demonstrate on it and I would have none of it. It was a terrible, rotten way to spend an afternoon. I hate her. I hate them all."

That. Had been. Dreadful.

Rey was half repulsed, half curious about read _that_ book on her own, but certainly not with one of Serena's bitch gang telling her to 'reach out and give it a try, stop being such a prude'. No. Truly the stuff nightmares were made of.

Kylo, on the other hand, being the obnoxious version of her husband she's known the longest, breaks out into a wide grin.

"I made the best choice with you, Rey. Truly."

Oh what the hells is that even supposed to mean? How could he joke when she was just a few minutes out from flying the coop?

"Why me?" she demands. "Why did you chose me when you could have had anyone else?"

It's not the first time Rey's said this question. Kylo rolls his thumbs in a circle over her bicep, and the gesture both tenses and oddly soothes her.

"You are so different from my other wives, Rey."

He says it low against her ear and Rey hadn't even realized that he was _that_ close to her until goosebumps break out along every part of her exposed skin.

She sniffs. Fidgets.

"Am I?"

"Yes. They want to be here, and you hate me. You'd rather freeze or starve to death in your desert squalor than live in comfort and privilege."

Rey closes her eyes as Kylo rests his forehead against the crown of her head. They were having a moment together, and for all of Rey's efforts to be a woman of the world she finds herself at an utter loss how to respond.

"What do you know about me?" she repeats. "You know nothing. Nothing at all."

His breath is calming. Soothing. Even.

"I know that you can live in places none of the rest of them would last a day in. I know that you're very innocent, and you don't understand things not from a lack of intelligence or education, but from a fearful place that stems from that innocence. And I know that you're crushingly lonely but you would do anything to hide that."

Is this what intimacy was? Rey is both repulsed by the frankness of his word and the assumptions behind them as much as she's riveted to the spot.

"How could you possibly know that? Are you really so arrogant?"

Rey pulls back then, and Kylo lets her but not by very far.

"Just arrogant then? You've called me far worse, so I must be doing better in your eyes."

The hand on her shoulders moves up. It places itself behind her head, and the other slides from her chin to cradle her cheek instead.

"Are you angry that I kissed Serena?" he asks.

Rey flushes both hot and cold. Serena kissed _him_ , she wants to remind him, but she finds she scarcely has enough air in her lungs to form so much as a whisper. So she nods instead, letting her mind drift to a higher pitch that drowns everything else out.

Kylo smiles then. This close she can see every tiny hairline around his eyes, or how his moles and freckles shift along with his face.

"Jealous?" he asks.

She shakes her head, her mouth suddenly very dry indeed.

"No? Oh, alright. Perhaps you'd rather settle the score, then?"

The ringing in her ears resonates, rooting her as firmly to the spot as the heaviest of weights. Kylo waits. Rey swallows, her eyelids feeling quite heavy.

His lips press against hers. Soft. Butterfly light and every bit as fleeting.

Then he pulls back, and Rey has never had any man look at her like he is right now.

It was barely a kiss. Barely a touch. And yet somehow Rey can't find her breath, it's as if her whole chest is being squeezed by an invisible band of emotion.

"Close your eyes and I'll do it again, Rey."

He makes it sound like she has a choice. Rey's already lost this fight. Locked in place. Held tight by both curiosity and fear.

She closes her eyes, and this time he does it properly.

Kylo kisses her slowly. Very slowly, deliberately. Sweetly rolling his lips over hers as if he's seeking out the ways that please him the most. A bolt of a shiver shoots along Rey's spine, but she holds herself still for him.

He's a gentleman now, so out of character, and when he pulls away Rey nearly falls into him because her toes were honestly curling.

Her husband huffs, his thumb stroking her cheek affectionately. His touch burns, and Rey doesn't have to look into a mirror to know it's because she's flushing flame red now.

"Married life seems to bring such a pretty color to your cheeks, my darling."

It's not what he says but the way he says it. Rey turns her head then, and this time Kylo lets her. Gives her that tiny bit of privacy to collect her thoughts.

A gentleman, but that doesn't mean that he's patient.

"So," he asks, no shortage of smugness returning to his voice, "did I kiss Serena like that?"

How infuriating. If Rey weren't still in a daze, she'd rightly stomp his foot.

"Serena kissed _you_ ," she repeats.

Kylo's laugh tickles her eyelashes. Somehow her face smiles even if she tells it not too.

"Rey," he guides her chin back to face him and she lets him, "will you stay?"

The pressure in her chest tightens. It doesn't hurt, but it's making her very aware of itself.

She nods, unable to form the single syllable required to answer properly.

"You'll be here tomorrow?" he pressed.

She nods again. One more day. And then another. That's how she'll make it through this, though now what she's fighting for seems more unclear than ever.

"And tonight? Will you come to my bed tonight?"

Rey's eyes flick up at that to meet his, and there's pure mischief dancing back at her. The cocky little bastard phrased it like that just to watch her squirm, didn't he? The return of her ever present annoyance finally brings her voice back with it.

"I would like to read the next chapter," she says, voice barely above a whisper, "but I don't think you know what it will cost me. My _lovely sisters_ would be truly unbearable if I were to be seen in your room tonight after all of this."

Kylo lets go of her, untwining his limbs from around her. Rey tries to primly straighten up her dress, and that action makes his crooked smile lopside even more.

"You're a very creative young lady, Miss Rey. I'm sure you'll think of something."

He bends down part way, catching her hand and bringing it up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

Then he turns and goes only a few paces towards the door before stopping and looking back over his shoulder.

"Oh? And Rey? Your punishment?"

Rey had been fidgeting, pinching the fingertips of one hand with the mean digits of its twin, but she stops when he says that last word.

"What?"

"You are forbidden from entering the sanctuary of the harem for… two days. Two days you will stay in your room like a naughty child and think about what you've done. Then, on the third day, you will apologize to Serena. If you two choose to kiss and make up, be so kind to _please_ let me know first."

Rey crinkles her nose, feeling equally parts appalled at having to speak to Serena ever again but also relieved at her two days of paid vacation, as it were.

Only when he leaves, the heavy door to her room closing and locking safely shut behind him, does Rey allow herself to fully give in. She flops backwards onto her bed, kicking her feet up and about as a bizarre wave of pure _giddiness_ sweeps over her. The last twenty-four hours must have done it. Too many emotions all at once, and now she's finally lost her mind and can't stop smiling.

That's not so bad at all, is it?

Rey starts to draw herself a bath, a complete out of character notion of wanting to 'prettify' herself sweeping over her, when an odd sound outside her window brings her brief moment of happiness over too soon.

She knows what it is before she even opens the window and reaches around the broken grating. There's a tiny piece of paper tucked there. Her summons to duty.

 _Midnight_.

One step forward, two steps back. And now an new certain but uncertain complication along the way. If only Rey could be allowed to date her husband in peace, but it seems like the universe has other demands for her.

* * *

Author's Note:

I made it. That's what counts. Writer's block is for real, yo.

Next chapter:

Rey and the Resistance go the rounds, and Kylo receives a dire ultimatum from his lady love.

* * *

Comment replies:

jhsbradford – Oh don't worry about Rey! Serena may be catty, but Rey can handle herself when the claws fly!

Paul Lenzen – Yes indeed, the rumor mill sure works fast in the palace doesn't it? Rey and Kylo both will need to be very careful with that! Thanks as always for commenting!

Guest – Glad you like Rey's portrayal here! She's having a hard time, but I hope her inner strength comes through. Thanks for commenting!

Anoha – The etiquette lessons were tough, but those weren't the lessons that REALLY got under Rey's skin! And I picture the harem guards ever vigilant, hunched there just waiting for the inevitable cat fight to break out, lol. Thanks for commenting!

Idsrsc – Rey's getting there, isn't she? Chapter 8 was certainly a big step forward for our couple, but that doesn't mean they'll have an easy road ahead just yet!

ToughSpirit – Definitely after this altercation the harem is going to be looking at Rey differently, so she'll have to get ready! And jealous Rey is really the most dangerous Rey, she doesn't take kindly to having her nice things poached from her! Thanks so much for commenting!

Demonegg – Thank you so much for your comment! And you're right about the etiquette lessons, Nevan for all her mysterious purposes and intent WAS actually trying to teach Rey important skills she'll need as a wife. Hopefully Rey was paying attention! And you're onto something with Kylo acting differently at times, and now Rey's starting to notice these details herself here in chapter 8. I hope you keep with this story and are enjoying it so far, thank you so much for commenting again! : )


	9. Read My Lips, Dear Husband

Chapter summary:

Where Rey doesn't get a wink of sleep all night long.

* * *

"Next time, Rey, please tell us when you're going to do something like that. You put us - _all_ of us- in more danger tonight than you know."

Poe's plea both rankles and confuses Rey, but it's his imploring tone of voice that keeps her quiet.

She nods. No point in explaining again that her outburst down in the harem had been anything but unplanned. She wasn't sure exactly of what sorts of 'dangers' it could bring to the Resistance, but Poe had told her that Alyss also had fallen under suspicion in the harem and couldn't risk sneaking out here to meet her tonight with so many eyes watching her.

"She doesn't have her own room, then?"

Poe had shaken his head. Apparently that amenity really was a rarity amongst the wives. It brought with it a great sense of gratitude that Kylo had done that for her, even if such a distinction had given its own hefty price tag along wit it. Having to share her living quarters with the harpies? Unbearable. Truly unbearable. Rey wouldn't have last the first night, let alone these short few.

And now she was here, creeping through the shadows to speak to a visibly flustered Poe, her contact with the Resistance that she's not sure she wants anything to do with.

"Rey," he drops his voice though there's no one else to hear him, "this is a rather sensitive question I'm about to ask you, and I'm very sorry for that. If Alyss were here- it would have been better being asked by another woman."

Rey looks at Poe with a frown. He looks truly, terribly uncomfortable, though Rey could hardly imagine anything he could say to her that would have been more humiliating than Ayana's 'lesson' that afternoon.

She sighs, dropping her shoulders which had begun to hunch from tension.

"Poe… it's alright. Just speak what's on your mind, you won't offend me."

Or he might well, but she's a big girl. Poe urns a shade darker, clear even in the flickering candlelight. They were back in that same tower room where they had talked last time, and Rey makes a mental note to at some point come here herself and see what part of the palace lies below them.

"Rey… we need to know if you've been compromised."

Comp…

Rey blinks. Frowns. Poe shuffles his weight from side to side.

"I don't know what that means," she says after a few moments of silence.

Poe clears his throat again. He starts to gesture in a strange way and Rey immediately flushes hot and cold as a notion dawns on her.

"You're asking me if I'm still a virgin? Truly?! How would me yes or not be _any_ -"

Poe stops her with a frantic wave.

"Not compromised like that! Not… _physically_. But emotionally."

He steps closer and Rey glares up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She's wearing her black training costume, at least, otherwise such a gesture would probably look ridiculous on someone nearly naked.

Rey… we're asking you if you've begun to develop sentiment towards the Prince. If you have, and that was the reason for your outburst then- then we truly are in danger and we may need to pull Alyss out. If she'll go. She may not listen to reason."

It's baffling why Poe and the Resistance seems to think infiltrating- for lack of a better word- into the harem is a key part of their coup strategy. Or whatever they were planning on accomplishing. Did they not realize the sisters in the harem were foolish, pathetic, and all but useless even to themselves? Wastes of space, and many of them seemed to hold no favor with Kylo at all, except… except maybe a few did.

"Is this about that girl who died?" Rey asks. "Paige? You had said that K- that the Prince- had taken a shine to her. Someone killed her, didn't they? Someone in the harem out of jealousy?"

Rey knows there must be more to it than that. The harem seemed plenty jealous of everything and everyone, so they must have had a greater reason. If Nevan had wanted Rey or Alyss dead, Rey doesn't doubt an attempt would have been made already. No sense in going through the effort of these 'lessons' and the pretense of civility then.

"Rey," Poe continues, "we believe there's someone else in the Palace who has a greater agenda. It's not just us of the Resistance, but a third party at least that has their eyes on the Alderaan crown. And… and I cannot tell you anymore. It isn't safe for you to know even this much, and, to be brutally honest, we don't trust you yet. Your uncle has put his faith in you, vouched for the strength of your spirit, but please, Rey, I need an answer: has your will to help us fight this fight been compromised?"

It was a low blow. She never asked for any of this. She had been placed into the game as a pawn unknowing, and every move she makes to extract herself only seems to draw her in deeper.

Still, she chooses her next words very carefully.

"The Prince is a very persuasive man, but no, I have not been swayed by him. That's not why I attacked Serena. Ask Alyss, she can vouch for how I've been treated by her. I simply saw a chance to assert myself, show her I'm not one to be tread upon, and I took it. Afte rall I'm just a feral little garbage picker, that's all I know."

Poe places a heavy hand on her shoulder. It's not exactly a hug, something far from it, but Rey guesses it's meant to be a gesture of comfort. After having such a trying day, she'll the kindness where she can find it.

"None of think that of you, Rey. And I know we don't know each other well, but I believe your uncle was right about you. You have a good heart. You want what's right for us, _all_ of us. A fair kingdom. A place of prosperity. Balance restored where it belongs to the people who need it most. The Resistance wants these same things, so let's work together. No one, neither you or Alyss or the Prince or _anyone_ , needs to get hurt if it can be avoided."

A peaceful takeover of the Alderaan throne? Impossible. A fool's dream

But perhaps a dream still worth fighting for even if half of it were to come true.

"What do you want me to do?" she quietly asks. "Is there something more you need from then?"

Poe nods. His hand drops and Rey's shoulder slump along with it. There is something, then.

"You're very good at breaking into spaces that don't want to be entered. Rey, don't look angry, your Uncle told us of your past. You did what you had to do to survive, another gift of the current ruling family, and now those very skills are what we need."

Rey raises an eyebrow.

"...meaning?"

"We… during the daytime tomorrow the Prince is going to be making a public appearance in the town. Giving a speech and appointing new officials. He will have his guards with him and most of the palace security will be focused outside. We need you to get into his private chambers and look for something for us."

"During the daytime? That's when I'm-"

Reys voice trails off. Oh. _Right_. She was under house arrest. No harem for her tomorrow. Pity.

"Alyss will make a distraction," Poe continues. "I will be on guard duty in the palace and I will help ensure that the passage to the Prince's bedroom is clear of observers. Then you will break inside, and find a letter for us."

"A _letter_? Just a letter? All of this trouble for a piece of paper?"

Poe swallows. Nods.

"A letter from his mother, the Empress. We tried to intercept it when it arrived from overseas, but we were unable to. If this letter says what we believe it does, then it could be instrumental in our efforts."

Rey is sorely tempted to ask what they think it contains, but another part of her very much would rather not know.

"It sounds very dangerous, Poe. Wouldn't it be better I do this at night? I mean, now perhaps? I'm already here on the roof and all the guards are slack and half asleep. There's a skylight to Kylo's bedroom, shouldn't I at least see if it's one that can be opened?"

When her husband had invited her to co,e to him tonight, Rey had been racing her mind trying to find ways she could without being detected. The skylight she had seen before had seemed the best bet.

When a silence falls Rey looks over her shoulder at Poe. She had already been heading towards the door to make good on her plan, but the change in Poe's expression tells her she's just said something she shouldn't' have.

"What?" she asks.

Poe presses his lips into a tight line as he holds her gaze.

"You called him 'Kylo'. And you've been to his bedroom, before, I've heard that much."

Oh for the _love of-_

Rey has to count to three. Rein her temper in. She's gotten so little sleep these last few days that even off-hand comments like that are enough to make her hackles rise.

"I did and I have," she says. "Are you about to ask me if I've been compromised again? Don't. But that means that I know where he probably keeps his letters and that he sleeps deeply. So I'll do it now, if you don't mind."

Poe looks long and hard at her, but eventually he nods.

"Be careful, Rey. I will be here on the roof watching over you for as long as I can, but I'll need to get back to my guard duties soon so you'll be largely on your own."

What a mess. That's the best way Rey can describe it.

She leaves without another word. Time to make her _second_ secret appointment of the night, what a popular girl she is now.

* * *

For all of Rey's careful peering into the skylight and readying herself to make sure the coast was clear, she had neglected to remember the most obvious unseen culprit to her plan: Kylo's personal guards.

She had been tackled mid-air before her feet had even touched the carpet of the bedroom floor.

The room was dark like before. Dark like everything her husband seemed to want to have around him. And now so too was the hulking beast of metal and mask that was pinned her stunned body to the floor.

He was holding her neck so tight she saw stars bloom in her eyes. Couldn't so much as gasp let alone cry out in shock. They had made a suitably booming 'whumpf' sound when she'd been thrown down, though, and the next few seconds were punctuated by a ringing in Rey's ears and the faint sounds of a startled Kylo fumbling, dropping, then retrieving his bedside candle.

A soft light fills the room, revealing the still prone Rey pinned to the floor with the masked from of the Black Guard looming above her. Rey's vision starts to shimmer, growing blurry around the edges, then Kylo's voice comes and the grip on her neck relaxes.

She flips over then, coughing and smacking her hand on the floor for good measure.

"Ky- ky-"

Gods, how close did she just come to passing out? A touch far softer than the last she'd experienced rubs her shoulder in circles.

"Sorry about that, my dear. I… if I had known that would be your route of surprising me, I would have warned my guards in advance. Are you alright?"

Rey glares at him. Somehow this has to be his fault. Everything wrong in her world is Kylo's fault.

The guard stands tall, stance wide. She can't see his eyes through the mesh frame of his helmet. It's really quite a disturbing thing to witness.

"I suppose I should be impressed," she mutters, rubbing her sore neck. "your guards are very attentive. Perhaps I should have knocked first?"

She rolls her shoulder out of Kylo's grip and sits up, now giving the still lurking guard a sullen expression.

"Can you send him away?" she asks. "I don't like how he's looking at me."

The eyeless stare of the massive figure was imposing to say the least. Kylo tsks softly, to Rey's great annoyance, and rocks back on his heels to settle into a low crouch.

"You know something, Rey? This is the second time today that my men thought you'd held my life in danger. I'm starting to wonder if they aren't onto something."

Rey steadies her expression to give nothing away. Kylo's tone is playful, the damnable man. He must just be riling her up which unfortunately seems to come far too easy for him.

" _You_ invited me tonight, husband," she reminds him. "Some welcome your men gave, and you as well. Haven't even offered me a hand up off the carpet."

Kylo's smile turns crooked, but he takes the hint and stands up to offer her an extended hand.

"Perhaps I rather like seeing you down there, my dear. And I had expected you to use the door, not descend down through my ceiling window like a spider upon its prey."

She frowns at him. The weight of the guards stare on the back of her head is intense. It makes her hair stand on end every bit as much as the complete silence from her attacker.

"Like you said, I'm full of surprises."

She crosses her arms and waits. Kylo seems to contemplate her for a moment, his gaze lingering overly long to the parts of her figure where the black training outfit he'd given to her tended to cling.

"And then some," he says.

With a wave of his hand he finally dismisses the guard. The room immediately seems bigger and less stifling without him inside.

And then it's just her alone with her husband once more. In his bedroom. In the middle of the night.

Rey scrambles to think of something to say to fill the silence before it can even start.

"I haven't been sleeping well," she warns, "I'm not going to be good company tonight."

Kylo turns from her and moves over to the three large windows that point out to the citadel below. It's at this point that Rey realizes he's not wearing particularly much, just a pair of sleeping pants made out of some thin, black material that looks like silk. She hadn't noticed it what with being choked and all, but the sight of his well muscled back makes her throat oddly dry.

"Some wine, Rey? Does wonders for feelings of ill-temperament."

Two glasses are waiting on the windowsill, next to an already opened bottle. Rey hadn't noticed any of those either.

She starts to refuse, trying to remember whatever benign polite phrase Nevan had taught her for just this occasion. Then Kylo turns to face her, a glass in each hand, and godsdamnit if his pajama pants don't sit low on his hipbones to the point of distraction.

She sntaches her glass out of his hand and retreats back a few steps. Kylo raises an eyebrow.

"Cheers," he says, toasting through the air to her.

The wine is sweet, dark, and heavy-bodied. Clearly of the best quality, better than even the sisters in the harem have flowing freely for the entertainment. And it must be quite strong too, because Rey immediately feels a soothing effect begin to steady her ragged nerves.

She finishes the glass and sets it down, then tries to fidget with the hem of her sleeves except her training outfit doesn't have that distraction like her gowns do.

"You always seem so uncomfortable around me."

Rey doesn't deny it. She is and she does. She has dealt with all kinds of people in her short life, but never anyone even close to her changeable, bewildering husband. It's almost frightening to think of how little she understands the way his mind must work.

"Would you like me to read to you?" Rey offers, changing the subject from whatever direction he was planning on taking that. "I can continue from where I left off last night, but you had fallen asleep so I don't know how much you-"

"It's fine, Rey" Kylo's voice has a warmth to it that confuses her all the more. "Read anything you like, just so long as you come and sit with me for a while."

His words were sweet. Kind. They made Rey feel valuable. As if her company was the prize that he had truly wanted, not just her simply reading to him for the sake of not having to do it himself.

The fact that the book she ad been reading had been particularly compelling made the gesture all the more significant.

"Alright," she says quietly, "lay down and get comfortable. I start again with the next tale."

Rey turns to the bookshelf on the wall. The bed creaks as Kylo settles down on it. Below her, on the table just under the books so close she could very well snatch whatever she wanted to from it in a flash, are the letters. She had seen them before, but which one was the right one?

The blue bound book waits for her, standing up and sticking out beyond the others. Kylo must have put it back himself, because any maid wouldn't have done so sloppy a job.

"You were sure I would come tonight?" she asks over her shoulder.

Kylo has his back to her, and he's sitting and reaching down. She can't see what he's doing, but she can hear his soft laugh.

"Hopeful, Rey. I had hoped, it came true. The power of positive thinking."

Positive? Rey wouldn't especially have thought her husband to be a positive person, but she's only starting to see the multitude of sides to his personality.

Multitude of sides and multitude of letters as well. She'll have to wait until he's asleep to find the right one, no sense giving the game away to soon.

For now though, she takes the book and turns back to him to complete her task.

Only to gasp and drop it in her shock.

"What happened to your clothes? Why did you take them off?!"

Her husband is very accurately bare-assed naked. He's facing away from her at least, but the candlelight outlines the pale globes of his backside with a rosy hue.

He looks back at her then. And he _winks_.

"You told me to get comfortable, darling. I like to sleep in the altogether, as you well know by now."

He turns to face her then and Rey immediately drops her head. Shields her eyes on that side of her face as she sinks to the floor and fumbles as she picks the book back up.

"Put your pants back on."

"No."

She almost looks. Almost glares. He knows what he's doing, he has to. This isn't a fight he plans on losing.

"Kylo-"

"Rey, come here. You're being ridiculous. We're married. I'm not about to ravish you. Unless you ask me to, in which case simply say the word. Until then read to me so I can sleep and I promise to keep on my best behavior."

She wants to run. She wants to peek. She doesn't know what she wants, not at all.

"If this is your best behavior, I couldn't hardly imagine you at your worst."

His soft laugh again. Rey looks up at the skylight, her flattened palm still shielding her eyes from _his_ side of the room. She waits until she hears the bed shift again and the soft sound of sheets being drawn over skin.

"Are you decent?" she asks.

"As I'll ever be."

Her fingers part. Just a little. Her eyes slide. His lower half is safely hidden out of sight under the black silk sheets. The upper- well, he's laying down but propping himself up on his elbows. The position makes the muscles of his arms tense and his stomach flex.

"Happy now?" he asks.

Gods, is this what marriage was like? This constant battle of control for one at the expense of the other?

"Let's bloody well get this over with."

She trudges over to the bed. Reaches across and snaps her fingers, pointing at the candle-holder to his side. Kylo's smile grows, and he hands the light to her so she can see her book better and his barely clothed body much less.

"Chapter Two."

She punctuates each syllable carefully, being very meticulous to annunciate each one and feeling very prim and improper. There was a naked man laying next to her, and Rey resolves to ignore him forever and ever.

She starts to re-read the chapter. It was a good one well worthy of a second go. The story was preposterous but fun. A sort of comedy of errors romance about a princess from some made-up kingdom who was restless and ran away from home. She ended up falling in love with the guard sent to bring her back. The story ends with the two of them literally sailing off into the sunset together, never to be seen again.

Rey closes the book when she gets to the final line. The ending is not one that sits well with her. Kylo had been laying there quietly, listening without a word of disturbance as she told the tale, but he clears his throat when Rey falls silent, the book clasped loosely in her lap.

"That was lovely," he says.

"Insipid. I think that was the word you were looking for."

It had been such a nice story, until the end. Rey hadn't gotten that far on the first time.

"Rey?"

The bed behind her shifts, Kylo's weight moving closer. His hand lightly sweeps some of the hair away from her face and tucks it behind her ear. She'd been using it as a veil to hide from him.

"That was the dream, wasn't it? To run away like that? I couldn't count high enough to tell you how many times I've wanted to simply vanish and leave the whole world behind."

Why in the gods would he say that to her? Such a spoiled brat. Her husband truly knows nothing about anything, least of all the suffering that happens right under his nose in his own kingdom. The Resistance, for all of Rey's great mistrust in them, was not wrong on all things.

Kylo sighs, his breath tickling Rey's exposed ear. His hand drifts down to her shoulder, his thumb finding and rubbing along a tight knot of tension there.

"Another story, then? If this one didn't appeal to your sense of adventure?"

His tough seems to burn her through her clothes, his palm almost unacceptably warm.

"I wanted that too," she finally says. "To run away and start all over again. But I never could. Never had the luxury to even truly consider it."

The hand presses harder, rocking Rey's upper body back and forth as he tries to work out the stress from her back.

"Why not? Why didn't you? You had nothing and no one. Alone until your _uncle_ miraculously swept in and rescued you from that life."

A tightness fills Rey's chest. His words bordered on cruel, though she doubts he has any idea of that. Just saying what he wants to say and being so thoughtless to the feelings of others.

"Hope," she says. "Hope is what kept me where I was. There were things that I clinged to even if I knew I shouldn't have. That, and a fear of ending up even more worse off that I had been before."

Kylo leans closer. Rey can see him now, watching her, but she refuses to look at him. His hand shifts from the back of her neck to the shoulder away from him and Rey absolutely can't help herself. Can't stop the flush of embarrassment that came from realizing she was being nearly embraced by a completely naked man.

"Not all of us benefited from your privilege, Your Highness."

The air between them cools immediately, matching the temperature of her tone. The hand drops away and Kylo flops back, the bed bouncing under her with his abrupt weight.

"One more story then, _wife_. Try the third one. I haven't read it in so long I forget how it goes."

Rey huffs softly, swallowing the unhappy sound under her breath as she shakes her head.

"Another story? I'll hardly get any sleep at all tonight!"

The hand returns, tracing along the center seam of Rey's training outfit. It makes her back arch away, goosebumps thankfully hidden breaking out along her arms.

"This would not be the first time such words have been said in my bedroom, darling. Now, please. One more."

Rey looks down at the book. Blue. Faded. No title on either the front or the spine.

"You said 'please'."

The hand pinches the looser part of the fabric around her waist, attempting to draw her backwards.

"I did," he admits.

Another sigh leaves her lips. She looks back at him. There's a little smile on his face, the expression of a man who believes he's about to get what he wants. Her gaze flickers down and the sheet protecting his modestly as drifted lower almost to the point of obscenity.

"Tale Three." Her voice is higher pitched, how annoying. "The Faraway Land."

Kylo moves closer again, resting his head on his elbow. Rey ignores him resolutely, drawing all her focus onto the words on the paper.

An adventure story. The last had been a romance, and a very sweet one until the last page. This was different, thankfully. It was a story of an unlikely group of friends thrown together by destiny. They were on some sort of a quest. Some sort of complication between them. It was probably a very good story, but Kylo had just reached out and wrapped his palm over her wrist.

She looks down at herself, whatever sentence she'd been trying to form dissipating at the harmless contact.

"Continue."

The hand splays out, flattening itself over the top of her own.

She stumbles over the next paragraph, each word becoming a little harder as a strange feeling behinds to form in her chest. A pinch. An ache. Emotion. She doesn't like it.

"Kylo, please..."

She doesn't know what she's asking him to do. Or not do. This was a mistake. She shouldn't have come here tonight.

Kylo lets go of her hand then to reach out and turn the largely forgotten about page for her. He hums. She looks down at the book. The feeling in her chest twists, tightening all the more.

And then he embraces her fully, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.

A full shudder runs along her back. She knows he must be able to feel every tremble. His breath fans along the side of her face, and it makes something else lower in her stomach tense.

"Rey? There is a great deal of value to being touched. I think it's something very important, and you've been terribly deprived, haven't you?"

His weight is heavy. Solid. Alive. Rey has to close her eyes as they start to sting.

And that awful, wrenching feeling in her chest only grows the longer he holds her. No words are spoken, though Rey tries and fails to read out the next line of the story.

He lightly shushes her then, and she screws her eyes shut.

She can hear him breathing. Even feel his heartbeat against her back. Her uncle- Poe- no one- no one has ever-

But who else? Which one of them? Which one of the harpies?

" _You will stay faithful to me."_

She grits the words out so hard and forcefully that they hurt. Nearly howls them. They feel like sand in her throat. She's choking on them.

"What?"

Kylo's surprised sounding voice is sanctum-quiet. He dares ask that, as if he hadn't heard her right.

The pain in her chest fractures through her all at once, detonating so fast just like when she'd lost her last thread with Serena.

Rey shoves backwards _hard_ , the book in her lap dropping to the side. She almost throws Kylo off her, and then she's on him herself. She pins him to the bed, kneeling to the side of him but with her hands bearing down on the broad spanse of his chest. She wants to throttle him. Shake him until he _gets it_.

"You _will_ stay faithful to me."

She glares down at him, daring him to defy her on this. His surprised face is blurry around the edge of her vision.

"Rey-"

"Which one of them? Where? How did you do it? What parts of them? When? _When_? Today? Yesterday? Tell me _when_."

Her hands wrap across the tops of his shoulders and she tries to do just what she'd pictured: shakes the truth out of him. Except that had seemed far more effective in her mind, whereas in real life he's as heavy a weight as she's ever tried to lift.

"When _what_ , Rey? What's wrong?"

His hand reaches out to smooth a tear off her cheek. Rey slaps it away, her control faltering by another notch.

He's an idiot. A letch. The worst person she's ever met.

"When did you bed them?" she demands. "Since our wedding night, when did you lay with one of them? Which one, where, when. Tell me this. Tell me _everything_."

If he dares not to- Rey doesn't know. She just doesn't know.

Kylo looks up at her, his expression unreadable. Half of Rey desperately wants to look away and break this moment of contact, but the other half needs to see this. Needs to see the lie in his eyes. Then she'll know. Then she'll be free.

"I haven't, Rey." His voice is grave. Angry. "I haven't _laid_ with another woman since the week before our wedding."

Her lips curl into a snarl, grip on his shoulders tightening.

"You lie."

"I don't."

No. _No_.

"You. Are. Lying."

His hands wrap around her wrists, pulling them off him. She can see the indents from her nails around his collarbone.

"Rey, it's a rather curious thing why you are so insistent about this." His words are clipped, controlled. "And I speak the truth. You have come into my life at a very difficult time. I have not been the same person I normally am. But I am not lying."

She swallows. Tries to recoil and this time it's Kylo who holds her over him.

"And- and since then? Since our wedding?"

He shakes his head. This is not the face of a man at all amused by this conversation.

"No, Rey. Perhaps that is why your sisters have been so unwelcoming of you. As I have said, this has not been an easy time in my life."

Rey frowns. Kylo frowns right back.

"Why?" she asks. "What's happened?"

Kylo pushes up then, drawing himself closer and not letting her pull away.

"What is it that you want, Rey? You don't know, do you?"

He's very good at flipping the tables against her. Too good.

And he's also very, very naked. That alone is enough to fluster Rey and bring her temper back under control.

Still, she squares her jaw. Sucks in a shaky breath and forces herself to speak.

"I- I want you to be faithful to me and me alone. One month, Kylo. That's what I want from you. You will not- _not_ -"

She doesn't know how to finish that. She doesn't want him to touch them. Look at them. Go near them. Even think about them or anyone but her and her alone.

Get rid of them. All of them.

The words go unsaid because they must. Kylo frowns deeper, lines etching themselves into his too-close forehead.

"That's a very presumptuous demand, _wife_ , to change the terms of our agreement now after so many days. Now when you're in my bed with me."

She blinks. His gaze doesn't waver.

"Don't… don't try and overpower my, Kylo. You're doing that thing you do. Where you try to make me retreat so you can get your way. Not this time. You promise me this or let me take the easy way out."

His gaze darkens. Immediately, irrepressibly, her cheeks heat up. Suddenly she's not sure exactly what sort of a moment they're having. Up until this second it had been a rather angry one.

"Kylo… do not lay with them. Do not kiss them. Is it too much for me to ask for you not to speak or look at them?"

he huffs. She can still smell the wine faintly on his breath.

"Yes, wife, that is too much."

He tries to draw her onto his lap and she squirms until he lets her go. Immediately she retreats to the edge of the bed, mind reeling on the unsure footing of all that's happened.

"The rest then. Promise me. Swear to me."

He picks up her hand. Jerkily draws it toward him even as she fights him for that.

Then he kisses the inside of her wrist and her mouth goes dry.

"One month, Rey? You're trying to kill me. I think I might die with only my own touch to get me through. Or yours. I truly might perish if I agree to this."

Rey snorts. A proper lady like Nevan had tried to fashion her into might have sniffed. Delicately. But Rey snorts and she doesn't mind herself for it.

"Then I'll be a widow. Good thing so much of the wardrobe you've given me is black."

He smiles then, nuzzling his face into her palm.

"I'll be climbing the walls, Rey, by the end of my sentence. Or perhaps-" he starts to nibble on the tips of her fingers and Rey gives in and looks away from the heated glare he sends up to her -"or perhaps by the end of the month I'll be climbing _you_. Such a burden of your innocence you're taking upon yourself."

Rey squirms again, feeling flustered from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. She presses her lips together, cheeks burning like never before as her husband starts to kiss her palm again, mouthing words against it that she suspects might be rather raunchy.

"Is that a threat?" she finally asks.

He pulls away then, flopping backwards against the bed now in a full sprawl of nudity. His eyes bore into hers, wordlessly daring her to go ahead, take a peek.

"Not in so many words, wife. Though I believe you may begin to find me _very_ persuasive the longer we are wedded. Now, kindly my darling, read on. We hadn't gotten too far into this last chapter before you had fallen distracted."

Rey looks at the forgotten book laying next to her because she can't bloody well risk looking anywhere else. She turns her back to him, sitting far enough away that she hopes she's beyond arms reach, and continues roughly where she had left off.

* * *

"And their time in the Kingdom changed them forever. Each one of them took the memories of those days with them throughout the rest of their years. THE END."

Rey closes the book and exhales. The faintest hint of dawn, just the slightest bit of black turning to violet, has begun to sweep across the sky.

"That was a good story," she says softly. "I liked this one. They were all happy. They did the right thing, even if it cost them. Sacrifices. Friendship. Fighting for what's right. There was a lot to this one."

No answer from Kylo. When Rey looks back, her first glance since restarting the story, her husband is fast asleep. Fast asleep and very naked and exposed.

Okay, so… well she looks. She's not sure exactly what to make of his unclad form, though parts of her almost beg for her to start imagining.

No time for that. Never time for that. Rey had a purpose here and it has nothing to do with reading her husband sweet bedtime stories and pondering the geometry of his physique.

She lifts herself out of bed with all the grace of her former life. Silent. Unnoticed. The book is in her hands, and it gives her the excuse to cross the room to her husband's desk. She looks behind her and he's sleeping so trusting, bringing a deep pang of guilt that slows her movements.

The Resistance wasn't wrong about her husband. But Kylo… she truly doesn't believe he's a bad person. Selfish and blind, certainly, but in his soul is someone worth fighting for.

No harm in looking, though.

Her fingers sift through his letters quickly, wanting the dirty deed over and done with. Almost all meant nothing to her. Correspondence from various officials, many with addresses written in a script she couldn't read.

Surely Kylo's own mother would write to him in a more familiar way, right?

She sets the book down and sorts double-handed, unclear on what she's looking for. The elegant penmanship of an Empress, perhaps.

Or a royal seal from Her Majesty of Alderaan.

Rey holds the letter in both hands and swallows. The envelope is opened, the wax seal sliced neatly through at an angle. Inside is a heavy set of precisely folded papers, and Rey swallows deeply as she starts to extract them.

She looks back over her shoulder. The bed is empty and her gasp is cut short as her husband's hand circles around her wrist.

"Rey."

The letter drops from her hand. She can't see his face with the light behind him, but she knows he can see hers.

I'm sorry.

She can't say it. Can only look up, pleading. Let him misunderstand. Let him thank she was just being nosy. She didn't know what she was doing. She was just prying where she hadn't been invited.

He reaches out with his free hand, his grip on her never wavering. The letter is picked up and he stares at it longer than at her.

"Go."

She sucks in a breath. Tries to explain. Tries to _lie_.

Kylo stops her before she can even start.

"You're such a clever, clever girl, my dear sweet Rey. Go out my bedroom door. I don't doubt you'll find you way back to your room safely."

And he turns her, spinning her by her shoulders. With a push he shoves her and her feet race to catch up with her momentum before she trips.

In a flash she's gone, all but running down the halls of the palace away from her husband's bedroom.

* * *

Comment replies:

idsrsc – Haha, but you may be onto something, why DID Kylo go into the harem? Maybe he was just lonely? He sure seemed surprised Rey was there, but why would he be? Hmmm… You're right though, Rey is one touch lady. Kylo had better watch himself!

Burnt silver – So glad you liked this chapter! Sorry about the errors, I've narrowed it down to being a problem with my word processor and… well, I guess I'll just have to be more careful! Thanks for pointing that out and thanks for commenting! : )

Paul Lenzen – Thank you so much as always! I'm so glad you're sticking with this fic and enjoying it for all its twists and turns : )

Anoha – Lots of things going on behind the scenes with Alyss! She'll have an important role later on!

KMK101 – I'm trying to update, promise! Thanks for commenting!

TouchSpirit – Well I'm glad you liked this chapter, hopefully ch9 gives you some more answers too! And Kylo loves the fighter in Rey so much, but… spoilers for the next chapter ; )

.Feathers – Sorry about the errors in this chapter! I'm thinking they're a problem with Libreoffice but I'll try to edit better! Thanks for commenting and pointing this out! : )

demonegg – True, Rey is so young and naive here. Kylo is very dominant and it's distressing her, but part of her also lives for it. She's a confused lady for sure! And Kylo's one sad lonely boy. They both just need love but are too far in their heads (for NOW) to realize it! Thanks so much for commenting!


	10. Worth a Thousand Words

Rey felt sick with disgust at herself.

She stumbled out of Kylo's bedroom with tears in her eyes and an unsteady gait. Those guards, those _things_ of his, stood by either side of the door. Emotionless. Silent. Forbidding. Whatever they thought of her distraught departure was so hidden from view they might as well not be alive.

Surely she wasn't the first woman to leave her husband's bedroom in such a state?

The Sister Wives will consume her for this. If even one of them heard about her leaving his room tonight at all, no less after she had attacked Serena, than Rey can scarcely begin to think about the hell she will have to pay from their wicked tongues when she's forced to return to the harem.

The window and the rooftops. That's the only way. Rey takes the first opportunity out that presents itself as soon as she rounds a corner out of sight of the guards. It's a narrow opening, one that she has to squeeze through sideways, and she kicks it closed behind her before she scales the palace walls to the roof.

Kylo had thrown her out near to dawn. That was rather cruel of him. The workers of the palace were already starting to stir, and the sleepy guards were chatting up on the roof and sipping steaming cups of caf.

Rey was better than them, though. She had sneaked about tighter spots than this and she sticks to the retreating shadows with a greater degree of stealth then her fractured emotions should have allowed.

When she gets to her room she closes the window, draws the shades, and makes sure the door is locked tight. Then emotion finally starts to get the better of her and she slumps on the bed, burying her face amongst the expensive and well stuffed pillows.

 _Kylo…_

He had looked at her with such disappointment. Such disgust. He had looked at her like she was a stranger.

They were though, weren't they? A husband and wife thrown together by the world without knowing the first thing about what was truly inside each other's souls.

He was nothing to her. He should have meant nothing. She didn't know him and had no reason to want him.

So why did she feel so wretched? Would he even speak to her now? Did she even want him to?

Yes. She did. But also no.

Rey isn't' sure she could handle a rebuke from him. If she was lucky he would punish her with indifference. If she wasn't…

Her room is beautiful in this morning light. That's something nicer to think about. Focus on how the colors of the dawn pick up the regal purple shades of the wall coloring and makes the golden threads of the window curtains almost glow. Magical. Rey tries not to have any opinion about it, about this place she had been put in by others.

Outside her room is the soft sound of footsteps. The come then go, passing by her door without pause. Rey can't help but feel a twinge of pain at that. Foolish to think- to _hope_ \- that her husband would have come to her already so soon.

Rey spends the rest of the morning pacing. Too tired to sleep, to weary to rest. Outside the walls the world grows lighter. Busier. No one comes for her though. Her breakfast is brought to her with a knock and placed on a little table outside her door when she opens to it. Not even the servants aren't shunning her for her transgression in the harem.

And no husband. His silence is the iciest of all and he's not even in the same room to deliver it to her himself.

It's not until noon comes and goes that a whistle from the hallway tells her its time to do the Resistance's bidding and finish her task.

* * *

Poe had told her to look contrite.

Kylo was off in town doing his grand princely speech or something to that effect. Apparently a few of the wives, the higher ranking ones in that foul hierarchy of his, had accompanied him to be ornaments on the sidelines. The rest were in the harem, a place Rey was still grounded from.

"The servants will talk," Poe tells her in a voice quiet enough that only she can hear, "they always talk. But if they see you looking very grim and being escorted by a guard, they will think it's all part of your punishment. Assume that the Prince has demanded you be brought somewhere to await a further instruction."

The halls were largely silent. Nearly all the staff were engaged with other tasks or out on the town enjoying a rare day off with the prince away. Poe was leading her in a very indirect way towards the royal suite of the palace in case any prying eyes should be watching.

"Further instructions?" Rey whispers. "What in the hells does that mean?"

Poe shrugs subtly and prompts her to walk a little bit faster.

"I could only imagine, Rey. That would be between you and the harem."

Between her and Nevan, Rey assumes. She may despise Serena but Nevan was a different story. The woman was clearly the head of harem and, despite her icy and sometimes disdainful demeanor to Rey, she was one person who clearly should not be crossed. No doubt she will have something very severe to say for the altercation with her sister.

"Let's just get this over with," she mutters under her breath.

There was only one good thing that had come to Rey in these last few days and that was how surprisingly easy it was to reach her husband's private chambers during broad daylight. Suspiciously easy, perhaps. Kylo's personal guards weren't even waiting at his door, leaving she and Poe to stride right up to it.

Rey shouldn't have been surprised by that, but she still was. The palace had gone quiet. Everyone who was anyone who wasn't on symbolic house arrest was out in the city today to attend the Prince's speech and whatever political driven ceremony was underway.

It made sense that her husband's personal guards would follow him wherever he went. Still though… it seemed strange. She and Poe had passed just one other patrol, and this was of the lower ranking hallway guards that apparently Poe greatly outranked. He had simply nodded his head at them, they had nodded back, and Rey had been swept on her way to her mission.

"Can you get in?" he asks, his voice muffled by the mask. "I will be in the main hallway, but if there's a problem I won't be able to help you beyond a quiet warning. You'll have to have your ears and eyes out for it."

It's Rey's turn to nod, and she waits until Poe gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and leaves. Once he's rounded the corner and out of sight, she draws out the set of lockpicks he had given her from her robe's pockets. It was important that she look as normal as possible, so regrettably she couldn't wear her far more practical training outfit. Her most conservative gown, such as the flimsy, transparent garment was, and a brocaded robe would have to do. She looked like a Wife. Hopefully that status would explain her being in her husband's bedroom alone if she were to be caught.

She slips the first lockpick in place and turns. Nothing. No resistance at all.

With that Rey's breath stiffens. It couldn't- no. No no _._

She pockets the lockpicks again, slipping them into the hidden fold at the edge of her robe's sleeve that no doubt other wife's used for far more scandalous purposes. Then Rey swallows, holds her breath, and turns the doorknob.

It opens. It wasn't locked.

Something about that almost hurts her, almost causes her physical pain from the sharp feeling that stabs through her chest. The door wasn't locked and it wasn't guarded. He knew she would come here when he was away.

Rey opens the door a crack, waiting and hoping perhaps for something to happen to force her to run away. Nothing again. The room is darkened with the curtains drawn but still enough of the late morning sunlight spilling out to clearly show how empty it is.

No trap waiting to be sprung because it's already sprung.

"Gods."

Rey whispers it so quietly, but it still sounds vulgar and loud in the hushed space. She closes the door behind her nearly all the way, just before the point that the lock of it would clink shut.

And then she's alone. Left free and unfettered to do her traitorous task.

Find the letter from her husband's mother to her only son. That's her goal. And Rey has already resolved that she's going to bloody well _read_ the letter, too, so that she can decide on her own whether to share it with the Resistance for their machinations or not.

There's not a sense of urgency. Part of her perhaps wants to be found so it would take the choice out of her hands. Rey spins in a slow circle, taking in the room as it has been left to her.

Kylo has tidied up. When she'd been here last night, just those few hours ago, the room had been messy but lived in. Books and personal effects scattered about. Now he's put them all back where they belong, making his room look picture-perfect for her.

Everything has its place, except for the blue book waiting on the bed, set down right where she had been sitting to read it to him.

Rey's shoulders slump, the air being knocked out of her at this confirmation of what she had suspected. She doesn't go to it first, though, not wanting to have to face the truth of it.

This is her chance. Tidied and prepared or not,t his is still her husband's room. The place she assumes is closest to his heart, if he should have one.

His vanity. Her husband has a _vanity_. That brings a soft smile to Rey's lips, her amusement pricking at the sheer number of potions and creams that are placed on the table. He had more than she did- not that Rey was clear on how to use half of those in her own room- but the thought of her dark and bold spouse _primping_ himself in front of the mirror every morning came as a much needed break from all the doom and gloom of the last few hours. Days.

Next she goes to his wardrobe. Black black black, some silks, some linens, many tougher materials. They revealed the clothes of a man of some style, surprising practicality, and expected repetition.

 _He dresses like he's going to a funeral_ , Rey muses.

There's but a few clothes in other shades than his favorite, and Rey sighs when she comes to the white and gold ornate waistcoat he'd been wearing on their wedding day. She had hardly paid a thought to the garment then as her fate was being sealed for her, but now there's something-

No, there's not. It's nothing.

Rey closes the wardrobe and crosses the room to the far side with his desks and bookshelf. His personal space was no bigger than her own, really, though she supposes he really has all of the royal family's suites at his disposal since he's the only one living here in this wing at the moment.

She'd seen his books before, but hadn't really had much of a chance to look at them in detail. Romances. Adventures. Children's stories? Yes, a few of those, and they looked old enough to date back to when her husband was a boy himself. He must have kept them for sentimentality.

That was one place where the two of them differed,. Rey had kept almost nothing of her old scavenger life when her 'uncle' had come into the picture. There were a few pieces she'd locked away safe either in her old shack or Luke's humble home, but none of them had come with her to the palace. Too much of a reminder of both what she used to be and also was still missing out on.

And his letters were organized too. Laid out by address and date. They hadn't been like that last night either. It must have taken him some time to sort them all, and Rey wonders what he could have been so bothered to hide from her given that he obviously expected her today to find these.

Nothing from his mother. The letter she had found earlier was gone. Nothing from his _other Wives_ , either, and that would have stung deep if there were. Most of the correspondence seemed of various official duties. Invitations or matters of ceremony. Dull things, though Rey still pocketed a few pieces from higher ups in the military. The General she had met earlier. Rey briefly skims it and it discusses upcoming scheduling for some of the frontier outposts. Would that be useful to the Resistance? Perhaps not, but at least she wouldn't have to return to them completely empty handed.

Finally, that just leaves the book.

Rey had been procrastinating, dreading that last part. It was a book, ink and pages, but also so much more than that. A symbol of the very few and very rare moments she;d had when it was just her husband and her alone. So different when they were alone. She like that Kylo best, perhaps didn't like the Prince at all.

And in the book is a piece of paper folded crisply and tucked right at the chapter she had been reading to him last night.

A letter. No, not _t_ _he_ letter she'd been sent to look for, but a different one.

If it's from Kylo to her- she's not sure she could bear it. Whatever he had to say would unlikely be words of kindness.

It's her _Uncle's_ hand that greets her. She'd know it anywhere, he taught her how to write didn't he?

 _Ben,_

Rey pauses on the stranger's name to flip the letter over. There's no envelope, but this was clearly placed here for her to see.

She continues with a frown, suddenly doubting why she even came to Kylo's room to begin with.

 _Ben,_

 _So many things have happened over these years. You may not believe that you can change the past, but that's exactly what I'm offering you. A second chance. What's done can be undone. What's written can be unwritten._

 _Accept Rey as your wife. Accept her as my apology to you for letting so much happen that could have been avoided. Accept her and let my debt to you be settled. You will never find another like her in all the lands, Ben. You told me once you don't believe in fate. Let her change your mind._

 _-Luke_

Rey reads the paper again. And then again and again. Who…

Is her husband Ben then? Or was she to be promised to someone else and then the Crown Prince of Alderaan had made 'Uncle Luke' a better offer?

Kylo had wanted her to see this. To see that she had been bartered like a piece of chattel. To see that she was wrong. She was alone. Betrayed. Her husband and her uncle both. They were complicit. And he wanted her to know it as his punishment to her.

Rey stands stiffly. Shakily. Tears would come later. And they would, certainly but not now.

Now… now Rey needs to leave. Leave this treacherous place that's brought her nothing but pain and to never come back.

* * *

Rey had walked right out of the palace.

That was how she left. She had help, though, or maybe it would have gone differently. Otherwise she might have had to wait until night and Rey wasn't sure if she could stand it for so long.

She handed the letter from the General to Poe and told him she wanted to leave. Told him that eh would help her. Poe had, predictably, tried to change her mind.

Rey didn't tell him why she was leaving. She didn't tell that she didn't know if she was coming back or not. She couldn't have if he'd pressed her because her mind was a mess and she could hardly see up or down or anyway but out.

No, he was going to help her, _or else._

Poe had lead her out then. Perhaps her use to the Resistance had reached it's conclusion given her failure at the mission, or perhaps he was more sympathetic to her clearly failing emotions than she had given him credit for.

"Follow the edges of the garden," he tells her when the circuitous route through the palace brings them to an outside door. "Keep going and going, and you'll find a gate. It should be open now as the servants bring in deliveries from their trip to the town, but if it's closed you'll have to find another way."

Rey nods. Another way? There is no other way. She has nothing with her. Just the book and the letter and the lockpicks. She hadn't gone back to her room. No money, literally just those three things and the clothes on her back.

Maybe it's better this way. Maybe this will make her choices easier.

It didn't. Still she hesitates even though the longer she waits here with a palace guard by her side, the more suspicious her departure could become.

"Tonight," she says, fumbling to find the words. "Tonight, if I can… if I _choose_ to-"

"I'll try to get stationed for guard duty on the roof," Poe promises. "That's all I can offer. You step out now and you'll truly be on your own."

He must have meant it as a warning and Rey nods despite barely hearing him. She's always been on her own, hasn't she? She was just a fool to ever think otherwise.

* * *

It was a strange feeling to be 'regular' again.

Poe's advice on how to leave the palace had been clear and true. No one had stopped her when she left through the servant's entrance, though more than one sets of eyes had widened at her as she passed. The guards at the gate, low in station based on their uniform, had gone so far as to hold it open for her and ask if she would like them to call forth a carriage so she wouldn't be late to see her husband's speech.

Rey had accepted with reluctance, if only for the sake of keeping up appearances for the longest moment. It would be even more unseemly- and take far longer- for her to walk all the way down the hillside into the city. Dressed so fine. All by herself. Clearly one of the wives.

No. It wouldn't do. She would probably be stopped, wouldn't she? The carriage was the better idea, and she allows it to take her all the way to the city square, though she gets off at the very edges of the festivities where she was least likely to be seen.

And there he is, her husband. Standing up on a podium and speaking to a man she doesn't recognize. A crier is next to them, shouting the speech out into the crowd so that all gathered could hear. A treaty had been made, so it seems. A new route of trade and a new overseer appointed for the role.

Rey pays little attention to the details, watching instead the unspoken story that unfolds. Her husband is dressed so fine. Regally, truly, but he looks tired. Miserable,even, though perhaps that's just her vanity speaking.

Next to him are his personal guards as well as a small army of other levels of security. Some are dressed the same as Poe was, though she knows herself that he's back at the palace up to no good. Then there's the redheaded general. He stands nearly as tall as her husband but with a stiffer and dubiously more regal stance. His face is a portrait of hard lines and unemotive severity and Rey catches him just once glancing away from Kylo to look behind him.

Nevan. She's there too, far off to the side but the only one of the wives that has the distinction of being on the podium at all. And she's tall and slim and perfect, looking for all the world like she belongs right where she is.

Rey turns then, pushing her way through the crowd. This wasn't why she was here. She didn't go to such lengths to leave the palace just to torture herself about her own shortcomings. Luke. She must speak to him. _W_ _ill_ speak to him, whether he wants it or not.

It's easy to get lost in the crowd. No one is looking for her. No one probably knows her name. Here she's just a finely dressed nobody, one of the many others watching from the outside in.

Still, when Rey leaves, she takes the longest route. No sense courting trouble when she doesn't have to.

* * *

Rey had been ready to wring her uncle's neck the moment she saw him.

Pity, or lucky perhaps because dead men tell no tales, but he wasn't there. It had been over an hour since she'd left the square, and Rey had dragged her feet nearly every step of the way.

She didn't want to speak to Luke. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. Every one of her questions, demands, began with the word 'why'.

And what if he didn't answer? What then?

Would she even have a home to come back to now, after today was done?

Those were the questions that kept her ambling, walking far slower than she normally would. And seeing the door to Luke's home opened had sudden confirmed all the worst suspicions she'd never even let herself think until that point. He was gone.

The door wasn't just opened, it had been bashed open. The door was half off it's hinges. Broken wood and a scattered furniture that could be seen from the outside in. Broken glass, too.

A metal pry tool lay on the ground. No doubt it was what had been used on the door, and Rey picks it up as her only form of defense. The house should be empty. Impossible to say how long ago this had happened, but whoever had done this had surely come and gone and the looters shortly afterward.

Everything of value was gone. No signs of a struggle. Not in the front room or the bedroom or the small little storage room that so recently Rey had used as her own private space.

The house must have been abandoned for the last few days, and there were no answers left to be found.

And no Uncle Luke. He was gone without a trace and now Rey had left the palace for nothing.

* * *

author's note:

Sorry for the delay in getting this short chapter up, but I struggled with it. This was a really turning point in the storyline. We're going to be taking a break from the Palace drama and some major changes are about to sweep through Rey's life. And of course Kylo's going to be at the head of that chaotic wave that comes crashing down.

As always, find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight or on twitter at Ava-Avdal

* * *

Comment replies:

.Feathers – Glad you liked it! Our duo's getting there with their relationship but they have to make everything much harder than it has to be, don't they? Thanks for commenting!

KMK101- Thank you! Glad you liked it and thanks for commenting!

ldsrsc – Well if he wasn't suspicious of Rey before he certainly is now! Thanks for commenting : )

Anoha – Well Hux definitely will have a role later on, you'll see! And the letter too, though in ch10 a different letter takes center stage. thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen – Let's just say Kylo had a lot of reasons to be suspicious of Rey. More reasons than even she realizes, really! Thanks so much for commenting again : )

Guest – Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Bendemption – Rey's very suspicious of the Resistance, just as they are of her. Not a lot of trust going around for anyone, unfortunately. As for the deal of Kylo's faithfulness, let's just say he's about to make a counter demand of his own, lol thanks for commenting!

Pobrediabla – Glad you liked it! Things are getting very emotional between our lovebirds even though they're both fighting it tooth and nail. Pretty soon Kylo and rey are going to have a lot of screentime together so it will be interesting to see how this all changes with their next meeting.

Thanks for commenting again too!

ToughSpirit – Kylo was definitely suspicious of Rey before. If you read ch10 you start to get an idea of the story behind him picking Rey, though there's still a lot she completely misunderstands. Basically they both just need to stop playing around and really talk to each other like adults (which probably won't happen anytime soon!) & a big thanks for commenting again : )


	11. Well we're talking, now what?

Chapter summary:

Where Rey and Mr. Rey hash it out. And by that I mean argue and angry flirt and go two steps forward two steps back and around the bend.

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author's note:

Posted at nearly midnight after a long day spent squinting at photoshop. Mistakes are no doubt made, please forgive them.

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Rey didn't even put half her heart into cleaning up Uncle Luke's home.

There was no point, was there? He was gone and she was left falling once more. Either homeless or married or about to be branded a traitor to the Empire if she hadn't been already. One of the three and, once again, the fate of it was out of her hands.

Rey had never thought she was one to just wait and let what may happen happen, but there was no amount of willpower and telling herself to _get a kirffing move on it!_ Nothing that would make her pack up faster.

A few belongings went into her old backpack. The looters had taken anything of value, but they'd left behind practicalities. Clothes and a good fabric for a tent and the supplies needed to purify water. They'd even left her good boots where she'd hidden them.

She had all the making of a new life ahead of her. A new return to her old life. And she needed to hurry before it was all too late.

Hours went by, though. Hours of her puttering about, straightening up the shelves and sweeping the floors and going through Luke room again and a thousand times after that looking for a single clue what had happened to him.

Almost all of his possessions were gone. More of his then hers even though they were hardly of much higher value.

So he ran away then? No foul play? It could have been either, but perhaps he had been more sensible than she was being right now and left on his own terms and not someone else's decree.

It hurt that Kylo didn't come for her. He could have at least sent his guards to drag her kicking and screaming- and yes, she would absolutely be doing both- back to the palace to await her sentencing.

She has nowhere to go. And he just leaves her here to it. That was cruel even him. Discarding her like the trash she used to pick through.

Dishes had been cast on the dirty floor. She might as well wash them except, when she opens the door to take her pail to the communal well there he is.

Kylo gives every appearance of having been sitting on the low stone wall for quite a while. He has two guards with him, not the _things_ that protected his bedchamber, but two of the higher guards she'd seen ringing around him during his speech in the village center. They were still wearing their bright red formal attire bearing the blaze of the House of Alderaan but, in bold juxtaposition, they were loitering nearly as well as her husband was. Kylo himself is slumped, his hands in his lap and a bored expression on his face as he looks up to the afternoon sky.

" _You_."

What an inelegant thing o say. Nevan would have rolled her eyes if she'd heard how little her couching had shaped Rey's mind yet.

Kylo blinks though, his overly expressive face shifting as he seems to literally swallow down whatever emotion he felt at seeing her.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

He doesn't sit up and draw closer, but his voice is low. Behind him his guards straighten, their masked faces hiding themselves from her gaze. Rey keeps her footing, holding her ground just as she holds up her wooden pail.

"To get water."

Kylo frowns. The fool didn't realize there wasn't the luxury of it flowing through a private tap.

For a moment they have some sort of odd face-off, both of them watching each other in silence. Rey doesn't know what she feels at this moment, but her husband's frown deepens and tightens the longer the quiet stretches.

He gives in first, though. Mercifully. With a grunt he pushes him up and off the wall, and a gesture behind him must tell his guards something Rey misses.

"I could have you killed, dear wife. I'm well within my power to do so."

"Are you going to?"

His mouth twists, full lips pushing in at one side and out at another. His head shakes in 'no' even if he doesn't say the words out loud.

Rey steps back, both to give distance and maybe to have this conversation inside. It's very lucky at this time of day that the neighbors that can see Luke's tucked away hut are at their jobs. Or were chased off by Kylo's guards, but either way there's nothing Rey cares to risk falling upon their ears.

When her husband steps inside he kicks the door shut behind him. Rey fusses with the handle of her water pail and wonder how effective the weight of it might be should the situation come to require its use.

"I could have you killed," he repeats.

He steps forward and Rey backs up until the back of her heels knock against a footboard.

"Do you say that to all your wives?"

"Just a few."

The dead sister, then? The one he cared about?

No. Not now.

"Did you do something to Uncle Luke?"

It seems the most logical thing to ask. Rey's hardly about to beg for her life now when she'd bloody well had long enough to save it on her own.

Kylo scoffs. He looks around the now barren but tidy hut.

"I came here this morning very early. He was already gone. Some tra- little boy was in here filling his pockets with whatever could fit. No, Rey. I didn't do anything to 'Uncle Luke', though you probably stop calling him that now that we're wedded or tongue may start to click."

Rey parses through that information, searching it for what could be the truths and what are lies.

"So you're swearing your innocence to this, are you?" she asks, gesturing around the empty house.

Kylo shrugs, the portrait of insouciance. Truly his arrogant veneer will be the end of her.

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

Rey immediately falters, her lips pressing tightly together. She shakes her head, swallowing doubt the lump of fear or anger that had begun to tighten her vocal cords.

Kylo steps closer again, backing her into a corner now.

"Were you always part of the Resistance, Rey? Before or after our wedding, when did it start?"

Rey's grip on the handle tightens. Kylo glances down at her whitening knuckles with a raised eyebrow.

"After. Shortly after, but after."

He leans closer. She squirms and hates herself for it almost as much as she hates him at this moment.

"Are you lying?"

"No. Are you going to kill me?"

He seems to think about it. Rey stares at the ceiling above his head, a dark halo of his hair ghosting along the bottom edge of her vision with how closely he is leaning now.

"No," he says finally, a tone of reluctance accompanying a deep sigh. "I've come to realize I rather like your head being on your shoulders, Rey. And your shoulders, too. I like them as well."

His posture shifts. If he tries to touch her now she's going slap him hard, guarantee. The only question of it is whether she'll use her empty hand or not.

Kylo must sense him looming cranial danger because he back off by a step and then another until she resumes glaring at him at not the cracks on the ceiling plaster.

"Rey… it's getting late. I'm not going to let you just stay here in this dive. It's time to go back before someone notices you're gone."

Let her-

The sheer arrogant audacity of this man. The closed fisted hand starts to win out. Rey can almost hear the satisfying thud the wood would make against her husband infinitely thick skull.

"I'm not go back, Kylo."

He rolls his eyes and his head along with it in a truly exaggerated display.

"Rey be _reasonable_. We have an agreement-"

"One that I've already broken so the point is moot. I'm not going back, Kylo."

Except she almost does want to. Almost. How horrid would it be to be alone tonight? Huddling wherever she would end up by sunset and spending all night long wondering so many unanswered questions.

"Who's Ben?"

 _That_ question she needs to know. Of all of them, that was the one that had been the largest missing piece.

When he doesn't immediately answer Rey turns, stepping to the side to go back and grab her bag before bolting. Kylo follows her, of course, and the way his expression visibly recoils when he takes in the sight of her old bedroom.

"You really stayed here? This is worse than I'd imagined."

Rey's grip on the pail tightens before she throws it aside to pick up her boots. She shoves them in her bag and ties it tightly closed before trying to sling it over her shoulder only to have Kylo takes it from her.

"Rey..." Again his face ripples, twisting in ways suggesting he was sucking on an extraordinarily tart lemon. "Ben is- that is a name that some people have called me by long ago. And I'd greatly rather you never speak it ever again."

The verbal acknowledgement that she's going to ave an _ever again_ should be more reassuring than it is right now.

"Some people? Like Uncle Luke?"

She reaches for her bag and he yanks it up higher than she can stretch.

"Don't call him that, either. Rey, I'm not angry with you. Okay, yes, I'm furious with you, oh little Resistance spy wife of mine. But we had an agreement. Come back with me. There's nothing left for you here."

His hand reaches out, aiming like it means to stroke her cheek, but instead tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before falling to rest of her shoulder.

"Tell me you regret it."

His voice is quiet. Rey wishes she couldn't hear him at all. She takes a few moments to calm herself before admitting the truth out loud.

" _Bitterly_."

"Bitterly? How lovely. Now I want to wring your neck even more."

Odd that Rey had thought the same thing about Luke only hours before. Her husband's hand tightens, holding her in place even as her instincts begin to demand she leaves both him and her home long behind.

Kylo half relents when she starts to squirm in earnest. He turns her and pushes her backwards, letting go so she falls into sitting on the edge of the bed. A cloud of old dust kicks up, making her cough and Kylo snort.

"I suppose if I asked how far the Resistance has infiltrated my palace you'd only lie, wouldn't you?"

It's not a proper accusation so Rey only shrugs and scoots back, leaning away to pick up her bag and place it next to her.

"If I were to ask you what's so karking important in your mother's letter to you, you'd only lie wouldn't you?"

Kylo's shoulders slump.

"I can't trust you, Rey. You've told me to be faithful to you and I have been, and yet you can't even be loyal to me for a week let alone a lifetime."

Rey opens the ties to her bag just so her hands and eyes have something to do.

"A lifetime? Was that how long I was sold to Ben for?"

Rey can almost feel the shift in the air. The way her husband's gaze must grow so cold as he look down at her.

She stands quickly, trying to bring them back to a more even playing field. Kylo turns from her before she can see his face. He starts to pace, his stride moving to and from blocking the door out too rapidly for her to try it.

"I don't want to lose you too, Rey," he tells her. "But I don't know what to do you with. I really don't. I had hoped that… I had hopes. You've let the Resistance taint your mind just like you've let Luke."

"You speak as if you know him."

Kylo stops then, looking at her with an expression of reproach.

"Know what he was? What he _is_? One of the Resistance's key players. Of course I did, Rey. Did you really think me such a fool?"

Rey starts to answer that with honesty then thinks better of it.

"What do you want from me, Kylo? I have nothing to give you, but you're here and so you must want something you think I have to offer."

He answers quickly, as if he had expected that question and had prepared for it.

"Loyalty, Rey. But, barring that, I want you to come back to the Palace with me now."

Go back with him? Go back to her room and endure the stares she'll get from every set of eyes that she passes? Have the harem torment her, now with more cause then they'd ever had before? Have the Resistance beseech her, laying the safety of strangers in her incapable hands?

Keeping to herself night after night, knowing that the sweet moments she'd had with this man in front of her are over for good?

No. No, she doesn't think she can do that.

"How about if you come with me instead?"

Rey doesn't know why she said it. Or maybe she does. She wants to leave, but she doesn't want to be alone. She doesn't want to leave him behind. Her voice apparently has decided to take over with saying what her heart's been telling her all along.

It's a grand, sweeping revelation. One that leaves Rey breathless, the weight of her bag suddenly too much for her to carry if she's not going to allow herself to tremble in front of him.

Her husband on the other hand seems far less moved. He stares at her with his mouth slightly agape and a suspicious draw pulling at his eyebrows.

"Come with you? What trap are you leading me into now, Scavenger?"

He probably has many rights to be suspicious, but hearing him call her that for the first time still stings. Not enough to make her withdraw her offer, though.

"The Res-" words are hard and her tongue jumbles on them as it struggles to keep up with her mind. "The Resistance and its operatives," she forces herself to articulate very clearly, "told me that you are cold hearted and blind to the suffering of your people. You're spoiled beyond belief. That much I've seen easily."

Kylo tries to stop her, tries to hold out his hand to cut her off. Rey snatches it and shoves it aside, determined for him to hear her out.

"You use my past, the past I never had a choice in, against me. You look at my Uncle's-"

"He's not your uncle."

"Shut up. You look at this home like it's something unfit to wipe the floor with. You want me to be loyal to you, Kylo? Come with me. Come to my old home in the desert. See the way I was forced to live under your family's rule. See how others who aren't so privileged to have a _home_ like Luke had offered to me have to suffer while you live in your Palace up on the hill looking down on us while every comfort is attended to. See this, make amends to your people, and I'll pledge my loyalty to you forever."

Kylo had been scowling at her as she verbally tore him down, but his eyes brighten slightly at that final word.

"Forever? Darling? Forever is a terribly long time."

"Less if I'm executed for treason."

Kylo's abrupt barking laugh makes her cross her arms over her chest to keep from jerking back.

"You may well be right about that, darling. Can you give me one reason to trust you? Just the one?"

Can she? No. Or maybe. It's not a good reason, not at all, but it's also all she has to offer.

"I stole some papers from your room when I was there. Some sort of schedule regarding you and the General. I gave it to- I handed it over. To them."

Kylo's outburst of mirth was short lived. He starts to sputter back and answer, and this time it's Rey's turn to wave him down.

"Because I'm telling you about it, you nerf-herder," she snaps. "That's why it's a step forward for us. I didn't have to tell you that. I could have just done it and let them do whatever they pleased with it."

"Well thank you for that, Rey. But that schedule was Hux's, not mine, so-" he pauses, seeming to think it over, "-so I supposed the Resistance now is going to be making _his_ life a misery for a change. Worse outcomes could be had, perhaps."

He looks down then at the space between them. His palm extends, facing up, and Rey realizes that eh wants her to take it.

"Do- do we have a deal, then?" she asks.

The hand remains hovering. Kylo sighs again, sucking in a noisy and deep breath before speaking.

"One time when I was young, my parents were fighting. My mother had to go somewhere and do something, and they were arguing about whether Han would go with her or not. Do you know what they decided, Rey?"

She frowns, shakes her head, and wraps her arms tighter around herself.

"They decided they wouldn't go together. They decided they wouldn't because, if they had to spend that much close time with only each other, they might never want to speak to each other again."

"… alright?"

"The irony of the story, Rey, is that that very night Han himself left and neither my mother nor I saw him again for nearly a year. It was the start of many such absences between them."

He reaches out again, this time seizing her shoulder in one hand and gently, firmly prying her buried hands free with the other. He grips her palm in his own, drawing her closer to him in jerky motions.

She has to swallow, throat oddly dry, before she can force herself to speak.

"Is that a yes or a no, Kylo? Because, if it's a no, I need to be on my way while there's still daylight."

"And I'll have a garden of lush flesh to keep my lonesome heart company tonight."

Rey tries not to rise to meet his petty bait. She tries, but her palm starts to itch as if longing to exert itself on something worthy.

"You-"

"Yes, Rey. I'll leave with you. Just for tonight. You'll show me what you have to show me, and I'll try with open eyes to see what truly must be so terrible about myself. And I'll do all this on but one condition, Rey. Or perhaps I should say two. On two conditions."

His hand on her shoulder springs down, catching the wrist of the hand she had been thinking about slapping him with. He holds her firmly, keeping them in close contact until Rey mutters a curse and lets her ams go limp in his grip.

"Fine, Kylo. What are they? Out with it."

"My guards have to come with us."

"Oh how subtle and undetectable. Truly no one will see us with your entourage. Who else must you take with you?"

"Just them. Just the two outside. They're more than well prepared should you prove not to be a woman of your word. _Again_."

Loathe as Rey might be to admit it, the thought of having two well armed bastions of protection with her out in the desert wastes was not a poor one.

"Fine. They can come. Help us haul enough water and they'd better pull their own weight. Now what's your second condition?"

Kylo leans further towards her, his lips curling up into a smile as she steps into his trap.

"Do you promise to obey it?"

"No. You're horrible. Now what is it?"

"I'll go if, and _only_ if, then we call it our honeymoon."

Her husband has a talent for saying the exact wrong thing at the worst time. Rey probably suffers from this same malady herself, but it's nothing a quick twist of her wrist out of his grasp and a kick to his shin can't resolve.

"Call it what you want, _your Highness._ I call it a truce. A cease fire. Now go into the kitchen and see if there are any pots left that will hold water. Send one of your men to the wells to fill them while I finish packing.

She shoves at his chest, finally earning herself room to breathe again. She hardly had anything more to pack, but it was a welcome relief when Kylo steps back from her with a polite tip of his head.

"And when I turn around will I ever see you again?"

Rey toys with the notion of lobbing a shoe at him for good measure, just like she would with a mangy stray trying to come into the house.

"There are no bloody windows in my room here, are there?"

None at all in her tiny bedroom that both seems bigger and smaller when her husband steps back out of it.

"There were many windows in the room I gave you in the palace, Rey. Remember that. Now be kind, darling, and don't keep your husband waiting for too long."

He closes the door behind him when he goes but Rey is quite sure he can still here her muttering 'what an insufferable ass' under her breath.

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Author's note:

Alright, we finally made it to and though this scene! This and the last chapter didn't come so easily to me but they were essential to set the ground of what's to come.

And what IS to come, you ask?

Act Two! We've finally made it to act two! Now it's just Kylo, Rey, and two scarlet-tuniced guards heading out into the desert to find Rey's old home. Because nothing says Happy Honeymoon more than a bickering married couple, a couple of redshirts, and a road trip through the sands!

And, on a personal note, I'm about tot start a novella a week writing challenge starting in a few days so please wish me luck with that! I'm going to need it!

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Comment replies:

Anoha – Rey also suspected the letter was a trap, but of course it WAS in Luke's handwriting and the man taught her to write so she knew it was the real deal. As for what she does, well that happens in ch11!

And yep, she really doesn't want to come back tot he palace either, she's right with you there!

Ldsrsc – Kylo I think at this point was very hurt by Rey, but he also of course has his own agenda too ('cause he's still Kylo, after all). Little by little you'll find out more about what's going through his head. Thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen – You'll find out in this next chapter! First he went to Luke's house for 'reasons' but then he had his speech in town then went back knowing full well he'd find Rey there!

Guest#1 – Slight delay in the updating but I got it out not too late I hope! Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit – I tried to write Rey's reaction from her perspective, she has so little power over what's been happening to her that part of her automatically suspects the worst so she can brace herself for it. That and she doesn't' know even a fraction of the full story or, at that point when she found the letter, who Ben was and what he had to do with her marriage to Kylo. Hopefully the next few chapters will start to answer some questions. Thanks for commenting!

Guest#2 – Yep! He sure did this last chapter! Couldn't wait too long, could he! Thanks for commenting!


	12. Hands and Desert Sands

**ACT TWO**

Hands and Desert Sands, Both Shifting as They Ride

Kylo was no gentleman.

Rey had never assumed that her husband was, truthfully. But it wasn't until they were an hour beyond the city walls that she realized he was a complete and utter _scoundrel_.

"There's not enough horses."

Rey was right. There were only three horses, in fact. Three for four people.

"You'll have to sit with me, then," her scoundrel husband answered.

That had been the start of it. Of his misbehavior. His two brightly-attired guards were big, burly things that took up plenty of space in their own right. Rey could neither ask them to share with each other or to give up one of their own steeds and force them to walk in all that armor through the blistering desert hills.

That left her with sharing a saddle with her husband and counting on him to behave himself. She should have known better.

It didn't start small, it started right off at full steam antagonism.

Kylo's hands circled around her waist and she nearly jumped right out of her dress in shock.

"Rey?"

Her voice squeaks some sort of noise in answer. His hands tighten, move up and down and bordering just on the verge of sending her into a fit.

"I asked you a question."

Their horse starts to lag behind, no longer prompted to keep up with the others. The two guards start to take notice but Kylo waves them ahead.

"W- wha- did you?"

Her voice schools itself on the last two syllables.

"Mhmmm."

His chest rumbles against her back. Rey swallows, her throat as dry as the parched landscape around her. They were in the rolling hills that surround the capital city now, and soon their route would take them into the canyon lands. Despite her promise to educate Kylo on the sufferings of his own people, Rey had still opted to take the most roundabout and discrete path to her old home.

"Oh, um," she's apparently very bumblish when distracted as she is now. "You asked when we would get there?"

"Hmmmmm."

It's a lower rumble. Kylo lets go of her with one hand to catch the reins and prompt their horse to move a little faster. His guards were a good twenty paces ahead of them. Rey didn't know whether to feel comforted that they couldn't see how flustered she was becoming or alarmed that about the false sense of privacy her husband seemed so emboldened by.

"By nightfall," she answers. "My house, my _old_ house, it's not much. Just a ruin. You'll hate it."

His hand loops the rein around the spur of the saddle. Rey can see him tip his head forward to regard her.

"Allow me to make my own judgments, wife."

She swallows again and squares her jaw, tipping her chin up in a show of of false courage.

"You quite like calling me 'wife', don't you Kylo?"

Rey mutters it softly. The guards were well ahead of them by now but she'd still rather take no chances they would hear her.

Kylo chuckles. Even the horse makes a sound under it's breath as if mocking her.

Then Rey realizes she'd been inconsiderately kicking it's side with her heel in her annoyance. She clicks her tongue in apology and Kylo straightens behind her.

One of his hands grips her forearm as if to steady her. Unnecessary since their pace was slow and the route was mostly even. Rey allows it, though, because sometimes it was simply easier to annoy the greatest irritation in her life than to address it in ultimate futility.

They continue on like that for another good hour. An errant thought that they might not make it to her old home- if there was anything left out if after all this time- before nightfall whips through her mind.

"Left at the next crossing," she calls out. "It will save us a tedious uphill stretch."

"Miles longer but minutes shorter?" Kylo asks, saying it quietly into her ear until she bounces her shoulder at him to make him back off.

Truth be told, Rey wasn't completely sure where they were. Well, maybe she was, but this wasn't the route she'd normally take and it had been so long. The shape of the hills is the same, though the winds had shaped the sands differently than she exactly remembered.

And Kylo wasn't helping in the slightest. No, when she continued to ignore his ever encroaching proximity, she reckoned he must have taken that as a personal challenge. He leans forward, closer still, and his free hand drops the reins again to pick up the edge of her sleeve.

"It's very pretty. I'm glad you're wearing it. All the clothes I've given you are pretty."

She rolls her eyes, pulling her sleeve free only to have her husband catch her wrist and circle it with his palm.

"It's a dreadfully impractical thing to wear, especially on a horse. I should have taken some of my own clothes. Hard to believe that this was the most modest of my whole wardrobe at the palace."

He hums. Rey swallows. She shouts to the guards ahead the next direction, hoping that the loudness of her voice would dissuade her rear groper.

It doesn't. His touch drifts up, sliding along her arms to her shoulders.

She doesn't dare look back. Doesn't dare make a scene or their twin protectors ahead might look back and see how flushed her burning cheeks must be.

When Kylo sighs, Rey feels it _everywhere_.

She grits her teeth, desperately trying and failing to control the goosebumps that break along the exposed areas of her skin.

"Kylo," she kisses, "move your hands."

Oh he does. Moves them in circles. Rubbing her back. Massaging her shoulders.

She squeaks when his too-warm touches converge at the line of her spine. The guards ahead of her straighten, clearly having heard her make that embarrassing sound.

"Gods Kylo," she grits it out through tightly clenched teeth, "what is with you? Why are you behaving like this?"

He shrugs, rocking her body with his movement.

"You're my wife, Rey."

As if that was enough of an explanation. As if that gave him the right to distract her when she was trying to remember how this roundabout trail went backwards from the city to her old home.

"Wife in name only," Rey reminds him.

She regrets her curt words immediately. She can sense how much they hurt him and she presses her lips together to stop herself from apologist. When he grants her wish and his hands fall away from her shoulders it's her turn to catch them in her own. She awkwardly hands him the reins, letting him guide the horse but really hold her in a half embrace between his arms.

"Tomorrow," she says, her voice cracking as Kylo leans in close again to hear her. "Tomorrow I'll show you how the other half your kingdom lives. How _I_ had to live until Uncle Luke rescued me from out of the blue."

Kylo doesn't answer for a moment. The rocking of the horse increases as the trail becomes rougher and less traveled. It pushes her back against him, and Rey briefly sees the knuckles on his hand whiten before his grip on the reins relaxes.

"Don't call him that, Rey. Please. People will talk."

Whatever that means. One of his hands falls to her hip, this time perhaps honestly steadying her as their horse unsteadily navigates itself over a loose stretch of scree. Rey gives in and nods, dropping whatever point she had been trying to make.

When Kylo leans to the side, closer so that he can look at her, Rey stubbornly refuses to meet his eyes.

* * *

The weather was shifting with the steadily dwindling pace of the afternoon.

It had started off cloudy, which was a blessing against the harsh beams of the midday sun. Now it was clear and the sky was starting to deepen. The sun was at such an angle that it was glaring straight into her eyes, making choosing the right path even harder.

They hadn't seen another soul all day. That part was nearly as concerning as the growing certainty that she had lead them off-course and they would have to make camp out in the open sands soon.

The desert wastes were barren, and she had chosen the loneliest road she had thought to take. Still, though, it was odd to see the path so empty.

She really had gotten them lost, hadn't she?

Kylo didn't know. Not yet. At least there was that small mercy.

This conundrum was also entirely his fault. If he hadn't kept on _distracting_ her…

Even now, he was still doing it! His touches may have seemed innocent to an onlooker, but Rey knew better.

He was beyond persistent. He was relentless. His hand was now on her thigh. Rude. Incorrigible. Unreformable.

Rey kept bouncing her leg to jostle him back but he wouldn't get the hint. What a thick-headed git she had married, truly.

Far worse than just his unrelenting touch was that it was starting to have an effect on her. Rey was starting to feel very, very uncomfortable the longer she was riding with him so close to her.

His breath would fan against her ear and Rey would swear that every hair on her head would stand on end. He wasn't talking, thank the gods for that, but… but…

He leaned in even closer, making Rey bend forward slightly as his warm weight presses flush against her back. They were crossing a stretch of shadows now, the sun having disappeared behind a tall rocky spire for a few minutes, and his temperature wasn't nearly as undesirable as it should have been.

Because she was getting cold, that's why. It was going to be a cold night. Stupid for her getting them lost when the skies were so clear. Stupider for her to have let him lead her mind astray to begin with.

A deeper sigh from him, this time with a hint of the lowest notes to his voice with it, and Rey squirms. In some ways his silence was even worse. When he was talking it was easy for her to find her anger. Everything her husband seemed to say was an affront to any normal sensibilities. Anger she could respond to, but this dedicated, focused attention he was currently nearly literally heaping onto her?

His hand on her thigh shifts, moving with the rocking of the horse. It draws higher up her leg and Rey has to bite her lower lip rather hard to keep from gasping.

The sheer _nerve_!

She can feel his heartbeat against her back. It's not even racing. Hers is. She starts to tremble a little as his hand glides higher still, creeping treacherously close to the part of her that will make her cast him violently off their horse should he dare, regicide or not.

Then he nuzzles her neck, his hair tickling her bared shoulders and his lips skimming against her skin. That does her in. That breaks the very last thread of her patience.

"Kylo!" she hisses, pushing back at him harshly to throw his weight off, "you will control yourself or we're turning around right now!"

He huffs but doesn't budge. Rey balls her hand into a fist, bends her arm at a sharp angle, and elbows him fiercely in his ribs.

Kylo cries out, gasping first then choking in surprise.

His guards turn, looking back at them. Rey frowns, her scowl deepening for a moment before she realizes her foolish mistake.

 _Oh._

"You were sleeping?!"

How- he was groping her in his sleep? Is she really married to that much of a deviant?

Or perhaps she had incorrectly judged the true meaning of his gestures upon her and somehow that misunderstanding was even worse. That had really all been in her mind, then?

Kylo snorts, leaning forward on purpose now glare rather sulkily at her. Ahead of them the two guards exchange a look with each other before facing away, their posture a little straighter than before.

"Beloved?" Kylo asks, "Is all well with you? Has an evil tremor has taken over and made you strike me?"

Stupidly Rey misses his body heat. It's getting colder as the sun approaches setting on the horizon, not that it had been on them for the last half hour. Not that following the direction it was setting in had kept that from getting lost, either.

But she had been right about one thing: as soon as her husband opens his mouth she feels flushed with anger. Possibly indignation as well, since the cumbersome reactions she'd been having to his proximity could ave been avoided if he hadn't decided to nod off on her to begin with.

"Oh shut up," she finally answers. "I had thought that you were… molesting me. That was a very easy thing for me to believe."

She had meant it as a barb, but predictably her husband only seems amused by her earnest confession.

"Ah, I see," he says. "And now you're angry that I wasn't, is that right? That I had been sleeping instead? Well, Rey, I must confess to have gotten little rest last night, but if you're disappointed with my lack of attention to having you so close shall I make it up to you now?"

His hands grip her hips. Tightly. Thumbs rubbing in circles.

Oh. Yes. That was the difference, wasn't it. This touch was very purposeful in its provocation.

" _Kylo_."

A feeling not unlike a belly full of butterflies begins to fill her. Rey can feel the blood rush to her head, making her slightly breathless with fresh embarrassment.

"Rey, I'm still mad at you. Darling wife. Darling, beautiful, treacherous wife."

His chin rests on her shoulder and his grip doesn't waver now matter how much she squirms in the saddle to get away.

"Well, Kylo I'm still mad at you too."

His laugh rumbles. Ahead of them the guard remain rigid with attention to only the winding trail in front.

"Oh you are? I couldn't tell the difference from your normal state."

His lips press against her cheek, kissing her chastely. Rey swallows down the lump in her throat. This is ridiculous. It's an absolute assault on all she believes in that he think he can get away with such conduct.

"No answer?" Kylo teases. "I had thought that if sleeping against you would get the wind knocked out of me that doing _this_ would end with my face in the sand."

He reaches up then, bolder than ever, and catches her chin. His hand even skims over her bosom on its ascent and Rey finds herself too utterly mortified to do more than stare at him with wide, panicked eyes.

"Hmmm..." he sounds entirely too pleased with himself. "You know, my dear wife, you're still not telling me to stop. To keep my hands to myself. I could almost think you quite like me touching you after all."

His other arm wraps tighter around her waist. Different also from before. Higher up and hugging her much more with purpose.

"Gods Kylo." He must be crushing the breath right out of her, for all the reed-thin nature her voice suddenly as. "What is going to with you today?"

Her husband had always been quite forward with her, but never like this. Is it because they were mostly alone now? What a terrible mistake she's made coming out into the desert with him, and they're hardly even truly by themselves.

Kylo nuzzles the back of her head. She'd thought he's done that earlier when he'd been simply sleeping against her, but now he full on buries his face in her hair and she can hear him inhale as much as she can feel his massive chest inflate with the movement.

When he pulls away, Rey's gripping the edges of the saddle so tightly she's sure there will be ten crescent shaped imprints against its leather.

"You've denied me for so long, Rey. I told you I would be climbing the walls. I told you I would be climbing _you_."

Rey pulls her chin free of his grip and his fingers trace her lips instead. She has to fight the urge to bite him. He'd certainly deserve it, wouldn't he?

"It's been a week, Kylo! We've been married for only a week!"

Their horse stirs. She'd been heeling at it again, and this time the steeds of the guards ahead of them whinny in sympathy to their friend.

Kylo pays none of it any attention. He's so warm. So everywhere.

"A very, very _hard_ week, Rey. You've captivated me, and yet you waste no chance to throw me away like I'm nothing. You don't treat me like a prince at all, do you? Wife?"

Rey knows that he must feel the shiver that shoots along her spine. He embraces her fully now, wrapping both arms around her shoulders and holding her very effectively in place.

"When was the last time anyone ever held you for so long, Rey?"

His question makes her blink. It brings with it a most unpleasant wave of conflicting emotions. Anger and intrigue and bitter memories wash over her and it's all Rey can do to shake her head since she can't trust her voice.

"Never, then? Darling, I'm not even doing anything to you. Tell me to stop and I will."

She can't tell him that. Can't because, if she starts, she's not sure what will happen next. All she wants is peace. A quiet, peaceful ride through the admittedly beautiful hills. The sun is gone now, but the higher peaks around them carry its fiery glow. They don't bring half the heat that her husband does as he holds her and doesn't let go.

"Rey?"

When he blinks she can feel his eyelashes brush against her temple.

"What?"

The word is so small it must only be carried to him by the evening breeze.

"I think you're far more deprived than you realize, lovely wife of mine."

Rey flushes again. The truth of his words starts to sap her will. She tries to gather her forces and summon her natural irritation regarding this wicked man to come to her defense.

"You shouldn't touch me so brazenly, Kylo."

You shouldn't touch me. That's not what she said. She'd meant to say that, but she didn't.

His lips curl into a smile. They're so close now they're almost all she can see.

"Why?" he asks.

One of his hands around her waist flutters its fingers, tickling her through the thing fabric of her royal gown. Rey squeaks again, triggering another chain reaction of whinnies from the trio of horses.

" _Because_ -"

She grips his hands. Squeezes them. Wants to pull them off but she doesn't do that, either.

"Because your guards will see us."

She tips her head away just as his moves closer still. If he wants to kiss her, then- oh no no no.

Rey can see the highly amused glint in his eye. There he is again. There's that side of her husband that's so easy for her to always be cross with.

He pulls back then, not far but enough so that he can call out without shouting into her ear.

"Guards! Your attention!"

Rey's eyes widen. Obediently the guards pull slower at their horses pace. They both look back over their shoulders at Kylo. And at Rey.

"What are you-" she starts to ask but Kylo interrupts her rudely.

"Guards!" he bellows again. "My wife wishes for me to touch her now. You are not to look back here no matter what sounds she makes, do you understand?"

Rey chokes. She wants to scream at him, but every part of her locks up. Kylo seems to take this as even more of a challenge.

"She can be quite noisy, by dear wife. Don't mind us if she happens to - _oof_!"

If he'd thought she'd elbowed him hard in the ribs before, this time Rey can feel the blow all through her bones to her shoulder.

Kylo backs away then, a pained smirk on his face, but the damage has been done. Rey can hardly remember a time she wanted to bury her head and hide more.

"Eyes forward, men," Kylo repeats, slumping back and releasing her to rub his sore side.

It takes Rey a good few breaths to collect herself and keep from screaming. Then she throws her head back in the hopes of clipping her idiot husband square on the tip of his idiot nose with the back of it.

" _Gods_."

"Darling?"

Kylo reaches out and tucks her windblown hair away, brushing it so tenderly off her forehead that it only makes Rey even more irritated with him.

"Did you have to do that?" she snaps. "Did you have to say it like that?"

The guards, as true proof of their loyalty, were obeying to the letter. They even sped their horses up, still staying close but now several more paces ahead then they had been before. And they don't look back once, nor even to the sides or at each other.

"No, Rey, I didn't," Kylo admits. "It was just funnier this way. Now may I kiss you?"

Rey tries to scowl and roll her eyes at the same time. Combined it just makes her dizzy.

"Kiss me? Kylo, you have the worst timing, the worst manners-"

His hand catches her chin, gently stopping the heartfelt tirade she had been building up into.

"So I have been told, darling. You are so terribly beautiful when you're angry. So full of life."

Her next retort flounders in her mind. The impossible man behind her actually sounds genuine in his praise. He will be the end of her. He truly will be.

"Is that why you always make me so angry, _husband_? Or is it simply a byproduct of your true nature?"

He smiles big and wide. His other arm wraps itself around her shoulders rather delicately in contrast to the full embrace he had given her before.

"Sometimes I do. Just because I love to see you like this. So present in the moment. Now can I kiss you? Please? Wife? Darling? Beloved? Sweetest to this heart of mine?"

Rey wrinkles her nose. He doesn't budge or seem to lose a flick of interest.

"Will you keep calling me those abominable pet names if I say no?"

Rey already knows the answer to that. It's written all over her husband's face. His eyes slide half shut and Rey takes that as her cue to close her own tight. She lets him tip her head back, her heart suddenly thundering in her ears.

It's just a kiss. Nothing more. Just to shut him up. Pantomime her way through her wifely duties and then it will all be over in a heartbeat.

This is still one of their first kisses. Before he had been so sweet. He still is, but there's an underlying urgency to how he moves his lips over hers that positively takes her breath away.

Rey _swoons_ , slumping back against him. Kylo supports her, their kiss intensifying. For a moment all she can feel is him. Not the swaying of the horse under them or the chill in the air or even her own common sense shouting at her not to fall for her husband's tricks.

A little sigh escapes her as his tongue presses against the seam of her lips. She parts them slightly, her trance budging only enough for her to feel shy again at how little she knows what she's doing.

Kylo's hand leaves her chin to sink itself into her hair and Rey melts backwards, bending closer to him. She tries to return the kiss. Fumbling. Awkward. It feels good, though. Too good. Heat starts to settle, making her suddenly very aware of the saddle between her legs.

"Gods," she whispers again, pulling away.

She buries her face in Kylo's palm, her cheeks stinging like never before. She can't look at him. Can't bear it. He kisses her shoulder then and a shiver sharper than before overcomes her.

"Please," she whimpers, mumbling the words against the meat of his palm.

"More?" his voice asks into her ear.

She shakes her head then, cracking her eyes open just long enough to make sure the guards aren't looking. They aren't.

"No. No more. Not now."

Another kiss, this time to her temple. Kylo starts to pull away and Rey grips his hand so she can keep her face buried in it. She'd wanted to hide before, but now it's a necessity.

"Rey."

She shakes her head again, her lips starting to spread into a stupidly wide grin despite herself.

"Rey. You are _beautiful_."

She almost laughs, emotions surging up in her as fast as she can push them down.

"Not like Nevan," she answers.

She drops her grip on his hand then, letting her palms fall limply into her lip. It's all she can do to keep upright. She wants to run, hide, or laugh like a lunatic. Maybe all three.

"No," Kylo agrees. "Not like Nevan. Better. More real."

And his own hand drops to hers, threading their fingers together. Rey lets herself slump back against him, leaning her own head against his shoulder this time. He doesn't say anything more but it's still a good ten minutes more before Rey stops smiling so wide her cheeks hurt.

* * *

They're going to have to camp out tonight. That was predictable. Rey had hardly been able to think at all until it was nearly dark.

Then her survival instinct took over. Where they were was pretty safe. There were other scavengers about, but she could take care of them on her own and now she was part of a well armed party of four.

The weather, on the other hand, was a bit more of a problem. The sky was clear and Rey's breath was fogging in the flickering firelight as she directed her husband's guards to various tasks.

"Gather as many armfuls of firewood as you can," she says to the sightly taller one of the two since she had never gotten their names yet. "Don't pick anything with thorns. There's a good chance its fit tor burn but there are some bushes out here with a very foul smoke. Best to avoid anything that can prick you entirely."

The guard nods. He doesn't speak much, and neither did the other who is currently charged with tending to the horses and settling them down for the night.

"Where should I place the bed rolls, Rey?" Kylo asks

The bundle of blankets and scraps she'd taken from Luke's home is in his arms. He hadn't been cross with her when she'd been forced to admit they weren't poignant o make it to her old hum by nightfall. Rather, he had seemed almost excited by the prospect. Like a little boy out on a camping trip.

"Place them next to that rock wall but not flush against it." she instructs. "We want the heat of the fire to reflect back on us, but do make the mattresses thick. The ground will sap the heat away faster than anything."

Truth be told? Rey felt very important right now. Nevermind that her own foolish distraction had brought them into this situation, but now not one but three men of a higher station that she had once been were depending on her. Were listening to her.

Power was an intriguing thing, wasn't it?

Rey brushes that thought away, straightening up the careless edges of the first bedroll her husband had laid down.

"Where's mine?" she asks.

Only two beds had been set out. Two beds for four people, though Kylo had said the guards would be taking alternating shifts throughout the night.

The fire they had made was small, but it was plenty big enough for Rey to see the smirk flickering at her husband's face.

" _Kylo_. I'm not-"

"We've shared a bed before, darling. Though if you're planning on spying on me in my slumber, let me save you the effort and tell you that all my nefarious secrets are locked away. Where? At the palace? Here? In my trousers? Perhaps there's only one way you can find out for sure."

Rey picks up a stone that was in the way. Thinks long and hard about casting it forcefully at her husband. Or maybe near enough to him just to keep him on his toes. Reason wins out, ultimately, and she tosses it aside in favor of stretching out the second bedroll as wide as she can make it.

"You will stay on your side, do you understand? No wandering hands or such, we've had more than enough of that today already."

Kylo hums in agreement. He's far too pleased with himself. He always is.

"I get the side closest to the fire," Rey adds, eyeing the too thin blankets. They hadn't packed right for sleeping out at all, but this hadn't been intended.

"I'm the crown prince."

Rey looks up at her husband. He'd been trying to lay out the top most blanket but was simply flicking dirt onto the other layers. And he seems earnestly surprised that he's not the one to get the most advantageous spot.

"And the crown prince gets to sleep with his back to a cold stone wall and his hands firmly on his own side, understand? Now let's go and have some dinner. Call your men back over, I don't think they like me very much."

Rey actually has no idea what his men think of her or not, but she finds herself eager for even a few moments reprieve. Kylo had been very clingy ever since she gave into him earlier. She shouldn't have done it. It certainly won't happen again, obviously, but it was foolish of her to let such false hope into the abundant space between her husband's ears.

Dinner consisted of bread rolls and butter and dried jerky. A far cry for the elegant meals at the palace, but Rey had insisted she stop at a market stall on the way out of town and this was all they had. If she hadn't gotten this much they would be going hungry tonight, and Rey has a sinking feeling Kylo would be quite the grump if he was put to actual discomfort.

And, even in this short span of their marriage, Rey herself has to admit she'd been getting soft to luxury. Already her stomach was growling, and she spreads a thicker layer of butter on her piece of bread before passing the rest out to the three hungry men circling her.

After dinner Kylo had the nerve to ask her for a bedtime story. Rey was tired, exhausted really after such a trying day, but the way he had said it had reminded her so much of better times she had no choice but to give in.

Another chapter down. Rey hadn't thought much of the book she had taken with her. She had fled the palace in a daze, her head not straight on her shoulders, but now reading the familiar blue tome brought a sense of peace that she would have otherwise lacked with having to sleep out in the open.

Even the guards seemed to listen in, though they pretended otherwise. This chapter was a shorter one. A tale about a rich old man who was a miser but then gave everything away with his last days. Kylo had seemed oddly moved by the story. He listened in silence, but Rey saw the way his brows would pull tight or the lines on his forehead would deepen during certain passages.

When she finished and it was time for bed, he handed her a handkerchief to wrap the book in. Then he settled down next to her, laying on his back with his hands obediently clasped over his stomach and not around her.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, only that it took her well into the night.

* * *

Rey woke with a start.

A hand was on her shoulder, shaking her gently, and a finger was pressed to her lips. Her husband was crouching over her, a horse blanket of all things ridiculously wrapped over his shoulders. Behind him the moon was high in the sky. A growing crescent that told her that the time was around midnight or closer to dawn.

She blinks up at him, whatever dream she had been having dissipating from her mind within the first instant of waking.

"Come with me."

He whispers it quietly, and behind him Rey can see both guards fast asleep. One is a shapeless form in the bedroll, and the other is slumped against a boulder, his head down and a soft snore coming from his parted lips.

"What?" she asks dumbly. "What did you wake me up for? What's wrong?"

The fire was nearly out. Kylo should have put another branch on, but he was clearly too ignorant of such life skills to realize that himself.

"Come with me," he repeats. "I couldn't sleep so I went up to that hill behind us. I've never seen so many stars in my life. I didn't know there were so many in the sky. Come, please. Let us look at them."

Rey frowns, grumbling under her breath. She was chilled even now wrapped up in her bedding, but she would have to get up anyhow to keep the fire alive.

With a sigh she sits up, taking Kylo's hand and letting her guide her to her feet.

"Just for a few minutes, Kylo."

His hand is chilled against her own, but his smile is warm. Rey tosses a branch onto the fire and pulls her shroud of blankets close before letting him lead her away into the night.

* * *

Author's note:

Sorry for taking this long to get this chapter up (the next of Horizon to Horizon is coming up tomorrow or really soon, promise!). Probably most of you don't know but back in December I started my own graphic design freelance business and I've recently had to move my website hosts. I had iPage before and they were… alright. I didn't hate them, but when my contract was up for renewal I decided to move on. After a long search I'm now hosted with siteground and so far so good! If anyone's ever looking for a host, I can recommend them as a good one and I went through 4 before settling on them!

Back to the story: now we've left the palace drama behind (or at least for now, it'll be back!) and it's time for some desert frolicking. So far so good, right? Ands Kylo's one smooth operator, lol. He's figured out a winning strategy: when Rey starts to get furious with him, he just has to flatter or fluster her and it knocks her diatribe off course. Plus a little horseback playtime never hurt any budding relationship, right?

* * *

Comment replies:

Paul Lenzen – Yes, Rey had very mixed feelings about laving the palace. Her life was going to change, and she wasn't sure for the better. Very similar to how she felt when she first went INTO the palace, actually! Thanks for commenting!

Anoha – So far so good in the desert. Slight foreshadowing of troubles to come maybe? Hmmm… Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc – Haha, well I called them 'red shirts' for a reason… (cue ominous music)

Thanks for commenting! : )

DeepSeaGirl678 – Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!

.Feathers – Glad you liked it! Yes, the Resistance has taken a step back from the main storyline for now, but they and all the rest of the palace drama will be back in good time! Thanks as always for commenting!

ToughSpirit – There's a lot of strange emotions between both Kylo and Rey, but I think they're really trying to make something work. They're communicating, at least, so that's a start right?

Benfan1 – Thank you! I hope you liked this next chapter too! : )

Guest – I'm glad you're liking this so far! Thanks for commenting!

pobrediabla – Haha, yeah Rey was all butthurt when Klylo didn't show up to sweep her off her feet, and then when he did she was all up in her feelings. And oh how she regrets getting involved with the palace bureaucracy and the resistance, regrets it so much. She didn't have much of a choice, though.

Yeah, and this version of Kylo is much more of a dick than the Kylo in No Rest for the Wicked. Who was also a real dick. This version has more of Han Solo's arrogance in him. He's also even more clueless when it comes to relating to women which says a lot because he's also had a lot more experience with them here!

And thanks as always for commenting! You're the best! : D


	13. Adrift and at Peace

chapter summary:

A complication amongst the stars.

* * *

"This is ridiculous. _You're_ ridiculous. You know that, right?"

Kylo's lips curled up. She couldn't see them, but she could feel his smile against her shoulder where he was leaning his head.

"Darling? Ridiculous might be the nicest thing you've ever called me."

His arms wrap tighter around her, his face nuzzling closer to the join of her neck. Rey swallows, digging her fingers into the horse blanket they were sitting on to keep herself from shivering.

"Is this not how you thought our honeymoon would be, beloved?"

Again with the pet names. Rey doesn't know how she feels about them. Though, now with his consistent encroaching nearness, Rey doesn't know how she feels about much of anything.

"I didn't think we'd have a honeymoon at all, _Your Highness_. Least of all one spent freezing under the desert moon, sitting on a horse blanket of all things."

The dark shadow that is her husband's head lifts up. Rey can feel a slight dampness cling to the exposed areas of her shoulder and collarbones where he had been raining kisses down upon. He rests his chin there instead, looking up at the stars with his face so close to hers.

"I can warm you up," he offers.

"I knew you would say that."

Now she can see his smile. The moon is growing still, now bright and more than just a crescent. All around them the desert is still. She can't even hear the crackle of their fire from the other side of the large hill behind them.

"Do you know what that one is called? The one next to the Sailor's Star?"

The constellation was like a grand, sweeping spiral. It reminded Rey of the train of her gowns, and it seemed to elegantly almost cradle the maritime beacon that always pointed toward the north.

"Uncle Luke told me the name of it, but… something like 'the handmaid's braid' or something. It rhymed. I remember that, and I used to watch it when I was little. As the months would progress it would spin and turn itself into the shape of a wave."

Kylo swallows. The sound of it is rather wet and makes Rey's skin prickle.

"You don't like me calling him that, do you?" she asks.

He doesn't answer. Rey is starting to realize that that's her husband's way of saying 'yes' to uncomfortable questions.

She presses herself back into him, her half exposed shoulders seeking out his warmth practically on their own. Kylo flops down, laying flat on their makeshift blanket and hauling Rey with him. It brings her to rather awkwardly lay on his chest, but his arms tighten again when she starts to pull away.

"Kylo-"

"What about that one?" He lets go of her just long enough to point at a trio of bright, glittering stars with a blue tint. "Is that a constellation, too? More than one?"

His breath tickles her hair and his chest rumbles underneath her and it reminds Rey of the ride here. She'd been quite angry at him then, if she remembers. It was better now, when it was just the two of them.

"Laruam," she says softly. "The Specter. It was named after three siblings. Laruam, Tenebris, Advena. There was an old fairy tale about them. There were three children who grew up very different. One was rich, one was poor, and one was forgotten. They all ended up as stars."

His hands leave her waist to rub up and down her arms. Rey realizes she'd been shivering. The dress she was wearing was far too thin for such a crisp, clear night.

"Will you tell me it?"

He kisses her temple but Rey shakes her head.

"Not tonight. It's a sad story, not a happy one. I'll save it for another time."

He frowns then. She looks up at him, but quickly away.

The wind picks up and Rey isn't sure what sort of silence they're having now.

"Can I-"

She starts to ask something, but isn't sure how to finish it. He stares at her so openly now, his face calm and his eyes soft and heavy-lidded. This is him. This is the version of her husband she likes best, and for some reason that puts her uneasy.

Rey shifts her weight off of him, but then tucks herself in close. Her head naturally comes to rest on his shoulder and his arm flutters in the air above her a few pulses before coming to rest feather-light around her.

"Rey."

It's her turn to swallow. Her chest is starting to tighten and she buries her burning cheeks against the broad darkness of his shirt.

"It's cold," she offers weakly.

Cold indeed, though Rey knows it must be so pathetically clear how much he's getting to her by- by- by doing nothing but hold her. What a sad, silly-headed thing she has become.

He clears his throat. Her head bounces with the movement.

"The winds have been growing steadily all night long," he says. "They came from the east and now they're from the other direction. I hope something isn't blowing in."

Rey hums softly, a languor starting to overcome her as her husband's body heat starts to sink through to her. Then his words reach her and she frown, opening her eyes that she hadn't realized she'd closed.

"The winds are coming from the west now? That's… that's maybe not so good."

This time of year it could mean a vicious storm. But the skies were bright and clear above them, and even as she says it the steady breeze that had been nudging at her seems to slacken.

"We should go back to the camp," she offers, making no move to pull away.

"No. Not yet. We wouldn't want to wake the guards up."

She laughs softly, cuddling closer. She can only see her husband now in profile, but she can tell that he's smiling.

"Aren't you angry at them for that? For not doing their job? It could be dangerous out here, and you're, as you were so quick to point out, you're the _crown_ _prince._ Just the four of us out here in the wilds where anything could happen."

His smile grows wider. He turns his head partly to hers and Rey's heart skips a beat as his eyes fall to her lips.

"Let them sleep," he says.

His free hand strokes her cheek, his thumb skimming across the fullness of her bottom lip before she reaches out to catch his palm in her own.

"Kylo, we can't."

Rey isn't completely sure what she's denying him, but there's a voice starting to call out in her head. It's the echo of her old self, warning her to break this sweet spell of intimacy before she falls too deeply for a pair of pretty eyes and forgets herself.

Kylo must sense the change in her. His smile fades and his had drops. The one around her waist stills from the lazy circles it had been tickling against her.

He doesn't speak for a few minutes. Neither of them do. Rey breathes and listens to the endless silence surrounding them. Before she had been married she had lived with Uncle Luke in his small house in the city. It had been a while now since she'd been back to the desert at night. So still. So quiet. So endless.

"Like we're the only people in the entire universe."

She whispers it, that half-formed thought. Kylo takes her hand again, playing with her fingers.

"Do you think people can change? Or are we all doomed to only ever be the same?"

Rey blinks, running her mind over his question. It wasn't what she thought he would say. While she'd been having her own lazy musings about the land, Kylo's thoughts had apparently taken him on a deeper and darker path.

It was a good question. One that deserved an honest answer.

She threads her fingers through his and the knot in her chest only tightens when he picks her hand up to kiss her wedding ring.

"I didn't used to think so," she says, her voice quiet as a wisp. "When I was younger I used to think the wicked were wicked and the good were good and that was it. You were one or the other. Now, though… now I've changed myself so much. I hardly even recognize myself anymore."

The dresses. The etiquette. The marriage. That was all just token paperwork. Rey felt like a new woman, and in ways she wasn't sure if she liked or not.

Another push of wind sends her closer. Now Kylo wraps both his arms around her, their legs tangling together. She listens to the steady thunder of his heart until it's replaced by the rumble of his voice.

"You betrayed my trust to my enemies, Rey. I should be angry at you, but I'm not. I would have been before. Before, I would have- you might-" His voice fades for a moment and Rey holds her breath. "It would have gone differently before, Rey. We wouldn't be here now. You certainly wouldn't be and I would have tried to drown myself in fleeting comfort."

Rey knows immediately what he's referring to. They both have their triggers, it would seem.

"Does your harem make you happy?"

It was a question she absolutely dreaded asking, but one she could only hope he'd be as honest with her as she had been with him. He didn't seem happy. He didn't seem to care for most of his other wives, but she could be wrong about that. Not that it would matter for a marriage that was never meant to last such as theirs.

Still, her heart flutters when he shakes his head.

"Once? Fleeting so. Now less with each passing day. Now they just make me feel… empty."

Rey grows still in his arms. Again that voice of warning chimes. She feels like she's getting dangerously close to reaching an edge. A tipping point where there's no coming back from.

"Is that why you chose me, then?" she asks. "If you're empty, are you trying to fill yourself with me then?"

In the distance comes a noise. A little clatter. Rey frowns at it, but her husband shushes her concerns away with another chaste kiss to her temple.

"Darling, I'm quite sure that's supposed to be my line to you."

Rey's frown deepens for a second before she rolls her eyes.

"Debauched pervert," she chides, shaking her head against his lips.

He laughs then, a soft, low sound., His joke, though tedious and terrible, offered a welcome break in the tension that had befallen them. Rey smiles despite herself, snuggling in closer to her husband's chest

This time the silence that spreads between is warm and languid. Kylo's thumbs rolls against her soothing and sweet. Her eyelids start to drift heavy and she can both see and feel the rise and fall of his chest even out as sleep starts to lure them both. It's been such a long few days. Tortuous at times. These last few hours had almost made up for them, though. They had gone so well. So wonderfully. And now all that is left is to sleep and face tomorrow with a fresh promise and a second chance.

Except sleep wouldn't come, no matter how much Rey tried to will it's sweet release to come to her. Her husband had nodded off by now, his grip on her slackening and the softest of rumbles matching every exhale.

The winds had stilled and she was warm. The desert was silent and she was at peace. She could sleep. She was safe.

Except that voice in her head only grew louder. It had been warning her all evening not to let her husband steal her heart. Warning her and all but shouting at her to protect herself. Don't let him have this part of you, too. Stay strong. Don't let him have you.

As they lay there the words kept looping, chasing away any chance of her catching some badly needed rest.

And then another noise. Another crumbling of rock.

Rey stiffens. She doesn't dare raise her head, but every muscle in her body tightens.

They're being watched.

The warning's in her head hadn't been about her husband at all. She'd just been too carelessly caught up in him _again_ to not hear them for what they really were.

She'd been wrong this whole time. They weren't alone out here after all.

Another noise, this time even closer or was this all in her head? This time Rey doesn't hesitate to find out.

She places her hand over her husband's mouth and whispers his name into his ear. Her palm covers his mumble, but his eyes open first slowly then wide as he takes in whatever expression her face was making.

"There's someone coming." She keeps her voice scarcely above the barest of whispers. "We need to go back to the camp. Now."

His brows frown together. He doesn't believe her. He doesn't understand.

Then he must hear it too. A _clink_. A sound of unclear origin but one that distinctly doesn't belong. It's close but not hopelessly so. Not yet.

She withdraws her hand and they both look at each other. For a painful moment Rey almost thinks she can see suspicion in his eyes. Then he nods, his arms uncurling from her now tightly rigid body.

"Go," he whispers.

"You'll-"

"Yes."

Rey doesn't hesitate. She rolls away, flipping first onto her stomach then kicking her feet up under her as leaps to standing. Kylo is one move behind her and Rey risks a look back behind them.

There's something there. Dark. In the shadows of a boulder. It's watching them but then it's gone. She hadn't blinked. It was there and then it wasn't.

Kylo's hand grips hers. He has the horse blanket in his other and Rey will berate him for that later.

Now though they run, Rey in the lead and dragging her husband as fast as she can back towards the camp they should have never left to begin with.

* * *

Author's Note:

Cue ominous music? Yeah, let's cue that ominous music!

Comment replies:

Paul Lenzen: Stargazing started off romantic, didn't it? And then… well, it took a bit of a wrong turn. Silly billies probably should have known better, lol. Thanks for commenting!

.Feathers: A little over a week, actually! But it hasn't been long. And yeah, Kylo kissed the hell out of her. He's good at one thing, that's for sure!

ToughSpirit: Yeah, Kylo's got some pretty smooth moves when he tries. Pity then he inevitable opens his mouth and ruins everything. Still though, Rey's becoming smitten despite all her best efforts not to be! Thanks so much for commenting!

Benfan1: Glad you liked this chapter! I have a olt of fun writing bad boy Kylo here. Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc: Rey pretty much feels the same way: she really wants to both kiss Kylo silly and strange him real good and firm. He really gets under her skin something fierce.

Anoha: Haha, oh no Kylo wasn't about to let his wife walk and not be all nicely close in arm's reach, lol! And the guards, well they're just not very good at being guards are they? They totally got some good gossip though. And I think it's been a little more than a week, like 10 days? I need to double check and find out but it hasn't been too long.

Thanks so much for commenting!

Anontmous: I'm glad you're enjoying this story! Thanks for commenting! : )

Guest: This chapter was pretty fun to write too, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!

Bendeption: Kylo's been laying to moves on Rey pretty heavily. The boy's got that honeymoon project in mind, that's for sure! : D

pobrediabla: No walking for Kylo's wifey, no way! They made the best of sharing a horse though, didn't they? And the guards… well… they're just bad at what they do. What can I say? They're wearing the right color, lol

thanks so much for commenting again!


	14. Drifting Desert Hills (part 1)

The night had passed sleeplessly.

When they had gotten back to the uncertain safety of their camp it was undisturbed but the guards were also awake. They had at first claimed innocence to Kylo berating them for sleeping through their shift. However, with enough verbal prodding, they finally had admitted fault and blamed exhaustion instead. Apparently normally an overnight outing for the Crown prince would require a full squadron of guards to assure his safety, not to mention the countless other assistants and attendants to indulge in his every need.

Going out into the desert with just the four of them was close to unconscionable. Rey had thought little of it yesterday, but after seeing that ghostly apparition she started to doubt the wisdom of their plan.

"Perhaps we should turn back," she offers, her voice meek with both weariness and wariness. "We've already taken a wrong turn. I'm not… I'm not quite sure where we are. Specifically. These hills are not ones I went into often."

Kylo shakes his head and picks at his cooling breakfast. They hadn't taken much with them in terms of supplies, certainly not of any appealing variety, but Rey had already long finished her own portion.

When she moves to take his plate from his he catches her hand and holds it.

"It was nothing, Rey. A trick of the nighttime shadows. It was foolish how we reacted. Jumping out of our skins at- at- at probably a bush bending in the breeze or at most a desert critter who was too curious of us."

His grip stays steady and Rey sighs, relenting as he drags her down to sit next to him on a woven mat they had brought from Luke's house. He was wrong, she was sure of that. Someone or _something_ had been out there watching them, and whoever it was hadn't been afraid that his presence would be known.

"How lost are we?" he asks between mouthfuls of his breakfast. "How far from your old house? I should like to see my wife's childhood home and I'm sure you have many things to show me of how wicked I am."

Rey stares at him sidelong. He had been rather morose ever since dawn had first began to brighten. She had said then that they should call their whole trip off, and Kylo's guards had murmured in agreement as well before falling silent to the sharp look their Prince gave them.

"I think that it's so be faster to keep going than turn back," she answers. "These canyons we are in can be a tangle, but I know certain landmarks. We find them and we'll find my home, but there's a reason I didn't come here more than a few times."

"No garbage worth picking over?"

Kylo sets his plate down and holds onto her hand as she gives an offended sniff and tries to yank it away. He hangs his head, though, his hair falling to block his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I suppose I shouldn't have said that."

Him admitting that was progress, Rey reluctantly decides. One of the guards approaches to collect the dishes and offer her a flash of water. For as little as she wants to become so spoiled, she can't deny that having servants to help break up camp was not entirely unwelcome.

"Indeed you shouldn't have. You're very grumpy when you haven't slept, aren't you?"

He shakes his head but Rey knows it to be a gesture of agreement.

"Neither last night for all the stupid of reasons, or the night before for- for our _disagreement_. Perhaps tonight in your home then I'll find rest."

Rey stands then, Kylo holding onto her hand with an outstretched arm before he reluctantly lets go and his arms drifts back. She moves to roll up the sitting rug but the guard beats her to it, tipping his head at her as he and the other finish kitting up the horses.

"There probably won't be much left," she warns. "I'm sure it's been picked over, and enough time has passed that the sands will have gotten in."

She knows Kylo will complain. It was as far a cry from his lavish quarters as could be imagined. But Rey still longed to see her old world again. A taste of nostalgia that may help to ground her unsteady thoughts.

"There will be water, at least. The old spring behind my house never runs dry, and I've hidden it well enough. Four walls, a roof, and water. Compared to some of the subjects of your kingdom, you highness, I was practically living in luxury."

She had expected another retort, but instead Kylo simply nods this time. He leads her to their waiting horse with his palm against the small of her back and an almost sad purse to his lips.

Truly he's in a strange mood. Perhaps the visitor from last night had troubled him more than he lets on, or maybe there's something beyond a lack of sleep that's weighing at his mind. Either way, Rey makes a promise to herself to try and be the better person. To take her temper for him and try to show the same patience and compassion that Uncle Luke had tried to instill in her from their very first lesson.

The four of them quietly depart, heading deeper into the canyons and further away from the City.

* * *

They rode as they had before, with the two guards in the lead and Kylo's arms tight around her waist as they hung back.

Kylo's weight was heavy, slumping. The man clearly was exhausted, and even his gropes lacked some of their enthusiasm from the day before.

For the most part he simply held her. Sometimes he would lean in close and kiss her temple or her ear. Rey would look back at him and he'd smile, but his eyes were half lidded today and ringed with darkness and her verbal objection would fade before it ever left her tongue.

Then his hands found hers, on in each, and he squeezed and Rey could match his silence no longer.

"Are you aright?" she finally asks.

It was late morning now and he had barely spoken. Rey was feeling a little more confident about their route, though now it was the weather that was troubling her. A desert storm was most certainly coming in, and they were such unpredictable things that it would be hard to prepare for.

"I had a dream about my mother last night."

He says it with his mouth muffled against her hair and Rey has to swallow down the sudden tingles that his voice brings to her pulse.

"The Empress?"

It was a strange sort of imbalance to comprehend that her husband's mother is the Empress. Her husband is her husband for all his countless flaws. The Empress is someone who's so powerful, so revered that Rey can has to remind herself that she's really real. That a real woman exists behind her notoriety. The same woman who birthed and raised the man Rey would one day come to marry.

She had expected Kylo to continue. He doesn't. He sighs deep and low, the sad sound of it humming against the thinner bones at the back of her shoulders. When she looks to him he avoids her gaze to dip his head down until all she can see is the black curtain of his hair.

Rey frowns and fidgets, and occupies herself with scanning for landmarks around them as her husband holds her tighter than ever.

* * *

Author's Note:

Oh my GODS I'm so sorry this update is teeny-tiny! I just HAD to get it out on May the Fourth! Some of you may know that I've started my own graphic design business and it's been actually going really well but I've been soooooo busy these last few days. I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE I'll have the other half of this chapter really soon, I didn't want to miss out on the fun today!


	15. Drifting Desert Hills (part 2)

"Do you find these hills beautiful?"

Even something as innocuous as a question about the land could send a shiver down Rey's spine when her husband said it to her. Or perhaps it was how he said it, with his lips skimming against the shell of her ear and his breath ticking the side of her face.

"I- yes. I do. I love the desert, as much as I also hate it."

She wriggles forward on the saddle and Kylo's head retracts to rest its weight on her shoulder.

"I'm glad to see it now like this. Open and wild and endless. I'm used to only seeing it through the distorted glass of a carriage window or, if I'm very lucky, past the heads of all my men and guards as we travel somewhere."

His hands reach out and pull lightly on the reins, slowing their horse's pace. Ahead of them the brightly clad guards keep going, following their instructions from the day before to give their master and his wife the most privacy.

"Here," he hands the reins to her so she can control them. "We could stop for a minute a hide in the shadows. I could lay down with my head on your lap and my fingers in my hair and I could spill every secret of the kingdom to your waiting ears."

For a good few paces Rey is completely at a loss for words.

"You paint such a vivid picture, dear husband," she finally manages to say.

"Is that a yes then?"

Back with his lips to her ear, whispering low. This time, however, Rey knows that he's doing it deliberately.

"Aren't you afraid I'd tell the Resistance? Surely I haven't gained your confidence yet?"

Her grip on the leather straps in her hand tightens as Kylo strums his fingers against her shoulder.

"Perhaps I'm setting you up to fail, wife. Have you considered that?"

Rey huffs, thoroughly annoyed at herself for falling victim to one of his mind games. She bounces her shoulder, rolling it back and forward until he dislodges himself.

"I think I'd rather talk about the desert. Or the weather, perhaps we should talk about that? Maybe that would be a safe enough topic for two newlyweds to indulge in?"

His laugh warms her already hot skin and Rey lets got of the reins to adjust the neckline of her dress to cover more of her. She was dressed so stupidly for this, but at least Kylo had given her a black cowl she could drape around herself to match the angle of the sun.

"It's been windy. What does that mean? A storm, or no storm?"

Fine. He's dropping his agenda. Maybe the weather was safe enough.

"This time of year it could be rain or wind, but something is coming in for sure. I can't say how long it will be until it finds us, but if we can't make it to my old home by nightfall let's try and pick a spot less exposed."

Kylo hums and his hands wrap themselves around her waist again. Rey frowns and tries her best to ignore him. She clicks her tongue, giving the reins a quick upward flick and their horse picks up the pace to match its comrades now a good ways ahead of them.

"Why don't you travel more?" she asks. "You speak like you would like to, and travel on different terms. You ave all the means in the world to do so, so why don't you?"

It's too easy to picture her husband on horseback, leading his own group rather than being surrounded by them. He would probably be very proud, his chest puffed out and an expression of pure arrogance decorating his face.

"Because of my father," he answers. "I don't want to end up like him."

Kylo's only spoken of his family a few times, and rarely with anything too revealing about his sentiment. Rey itches to ask him more. To press him about his dream which apparently troubled him greatly. However, if she did that, he would be well within his rights to ask the same manner of questions to her.

"You father… he traveled a lot? You said he did. That he- er-"

How to tactfully repeat the painful story he had shared with her? Rey isn't sure, and Kylo inhales deeply, his chest pressing against her back.

"He abandoned my mother and I. Often. Too many times to count. Oh, he would have excuses sometimes. Other times not, but when he felt like giving us the dignity of a lie he would always say he was called away by _business_ and would have to travel to some faraway land."

Rey stares at the steepening hills in silence as their group winds along the poorly marked trail. They're heading in the right direction, she thinks. It's very quiet, though.

"Wanderlust. It can be a very melancholy thing."

Kylo hums in agreement.

"Indeed, Rey. And I also have my duty. Sometimes I want nothing more than to be like you and have nothing holding me back."

Rey flinches from that, but she tries to hide it. When she glances over her shoulder Kylo is staring straight up at the sky.

"Duty?" she repeats. "I'm surprised to hear you speak of duty. You seemed to have so little regard for it before."

Truthfully she has little idea what her husband spends his day doing, but he can't have ever taken his duty to his kingdom too seriously or so much of what has transpired would have been avoided.

"People watch me all the time," he says. "They judge me. When I become emperor the scrutiny will be immense. I'm not sure how I'll manage to overcome it. Whatever freedoms I have now will be stripped away."

Rey has to literally bite her tongue. What a spoiled little rich boy he is. She doesn't doubt that his life has its challenges, but how could he be so foolish to say these things to her?

Then Master Luke's words come back to her. Compassion. It had been one of her central lessons to her. Have compassion even to those who are such entitled, thoughtless little pricks they would dare to think their troubles are worth whining about.

Reluctantly she reaches out and pats his hand. There. That's comfort. Compassion. She's doing it.

"You won't be emperor for a long time yet, husband. Plenty of years ahead of you to overcome the massive challenges that come with a life of comfort and leisure."

Kylo's hands withdraw from under her own. His heat leaves her back as well, but there are limits to how far he can retreat from her barb.

"Run away with me."

Gods he's in a strange mood. Yesterday he could hardly stop from touching her and now he's- well, he's _clingy_ , if not so overtly affectionate.

"Run away? I thought that's what we were doing right now, husband? I doubt you sent word to the palace of our trip into the desert. No doubt there are frenzy besides themselves at you going missing."

Kylo makes a sound that is either a hum or a grunt, but Rey refuses to look back at him. Ahead there's another fork in the road and she'd been keeping them to the more worn trails but now the choice seems less clear.

"When I told my men to fetch water for our trip I also ordered them to send notice to the palace that I would be going away for a few days. They won't be looking for us long enough for us to get a good head start. _Run away with me._ "

"Kylo-"

"Further. Anywhere. Show me your home then shows me what lies beyond the next hill then the next a hundred after that. Let's run where no one could ever find us. Where no one knows who I am or expects anything of me. You used to have that life, Rey. Surely you must miss it?"

Rey scoffs. Their guards are waiting at the crossing and she wonders how much of that they just heard.

"To… to the right. Yes. To the right."

She waits until they pull far enough ahead that she can whisper back at Kylo.

"Do whatever I want, you mean? Is that really what you think my old life was like?"

He shrugs. Rey wants to slap him for that.

"Isn't it, though?"

Rey twists in her seat to glare back to him.

"It was _hard_ , Kylo. It was all I could do not to starve to death. When we get to my home I'm putting you to work. I won't lift a finger. You can bring in the water and clear out the dirt and worry about he snakes and all the thousands of other troubles I had to live through _every single day_ while you were up in your palace marrying any woman that passed your line of sight."

Their horse whinnies, sensing the impending argument of its riders. With a sneer Rey turns away from him, not wanting to stand looking at her husband's clueless, blank face for a moment more.

They continue the net few minutes in silence. An acrimonious silence from Rey's end, though her husband must sense this because he keeps both his thoughts and his hands to himself.

Then he has to ruin their brief piece by speaking again once they round the net bend of the road.

"I can make it up to you, Rey. I have plenty of money with me. We run away together and you can have all that. Not a finger lifted. It doesn't have to be forever, if that's your worry. The guards have families. Or maybe not, I don't actually know them. But let us all have a grand adventure. Let's cross the desert and see the ocean beyond. I'll come back a changed man. You gave me thirty days of your life, Rey, let's not waste them at the palace."

"Gods, don't remind me. How much longer do I have?"

His weight presses against her again. Rey rolls her eyes, scowling at the now lightly streaking clouds high above them. A storm it will definitely be, then.

"Long enough, Rey. Just think about it. Please. Now tell me about these hills. Be my guide. You said you never came here often. Why not? All the wrecks of days gone by already been picked to their bones?"

Rey sighs and tries to remember the last time she was here. Perhaps a decade or not quite?

Which brings her right back to something that had been troubling the backs of her thoughts all day long.

"There was never was anything ere to pick over," she says. "Only just a few houses if you could call them that. The old empire and then the new traders wouldn't come through this way because the hills would slow them down. I chose this route so we wouldn't be seen by so many, but it feels like we haven't been seen at all since last night. Do you find that strange?"

Kylo pauses and matches her look from one side of the road to the other. It's been blown over with sand for a while now and the only prints on the ground are there own.

"Should there be more here then?"

"Yes. Or- or maybe not. If the water's shifted and these hills have gone dry..."

They still should have met someone. Or at least seen signs of someones. If the homesteaders had move on then others like outlaws were not unknown to hide out in these hills that were just a days ride from the city.

"Up there," Rey points to a tall hill with a steep but possible-looking slope to it. "Let's go up there and get a vantage on some higher ground."

Kylo snaps the reins to motion the horse to catch up to the guards before eh whispers right next to her ear like eh always does when he wants to be an ass.

"But I thought you had the higher ground already, darling?"

Rey doesn't bother to dignify him with an answer. She slaps their horse on its shoulder, breaking it out into an abrupt run as she guides it towards that hill.

* * *

"There it is. The ocean."

Kylo's voice holds a tone of almost reverence, as if he's giving a grand proclamation to a spellbound audience. Rey side-eyes him, squinting hard at the mid-day sun to see what she already knows can't be seen.

"Kylo… the ocean is hundreds of kilometers that way. We can't see it."

Perhaps the sun and heat has gotten to him? The pampered prince, unable to withstand even a full day in the elements and out of his comforts.

Her husbands chests deflates noticeably. He threads his fingers through his unruly hair and sweeps it back from his face. Rey fights an odd impulse to be jealous of his hand for that.

"Yes, wife, I know that. I meant it more like _there_ is the ocean. Over there in that direction. I haven't seen it for so long, have you ever?"

Rey shakes her head and steps back to stand in his shadow. The shadeless hilltop offered them a spectacular panorama of how utterly lost they had become by her poor guidance.

"Never. The sands are my ocean. Stretching as far as the eye can see."

These hills formed a foothold for a craggy, sharp line of mountains to the west and a seemingly endless span of rolling dunes to the right. Behind them lay the city, now a dark and distant shape on the rear horizon. Somewhere in front of them was both her old hut and, far far beyond that, the port city that made for the edges of the Alderaan Kingdom.

"That's where my mother went when she sailed abroad so many months ago. You knew that though, didn't you?"

Rey frowns at him. She'd been chewing on the ends of her hair, an old nervous habit she'd had since a child. It was part of the reason why she used to keep her hair tightly up and back, though the reasons why she feels rather on edge now alludes her as much as her husband's question.

"I don't understand," she answers.

Kylo turns to face her then, his height looming over her. Rey's frown deepens and she crosses her arms tightly over her chest.

"What?" she snaps. "What is it now?"

"My mother's and my relationship is an uneasy one, but you knew that too, don't you? What were the last words she said to me before she left abroad? Would they come as a surprise to you, or have you been told that by your allies as well?"

Rey takes a step back. Kylo matches her. She looks over to the guards who are hovering nearby, one on horseback and the other staring at the ground. Both pretending not to be listening in.

"Kylo, if I'm being accused of something, speak plainly. Out with it or I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"What did the Resistance say about Leia?"

Leia. His mother. The Empress. Rey thinks back hard to her clandestine meetings with them, but returns to the present largely empty-handed.

"They said that she had sent you some letter. Some bloody letter that is so terribly important. Beyond that I know nothing."

Kylo leans in, either trying to intimidate her or kiss her. If it's the latter-

"Are you sure?"

He glares down at her and Rey glares up right back.

"Husband."

" _Wife_."

He catches her chin. Rey tenses her jaw, her eyes narrowing even more as she all but dares him to try it and see what happens next.

Then he turns and steps away, a sharp tension clear with the set of his shoulders and the tightness of his step as he walks to the edge of their looking point.

"Do you know our way now, Rey? Have you found the route?"

Oh what in all the heavens-

Nevermind. Forget it. Forget _him_.

"More or less. We need to head straight south, but it

will be very easy to get turned about again in these canyons once we get down into them. Once we get out in the open, though, I should be able to find us home quickly."

The back of Kylo's head tips to one side. She can hear his annoyed-sounding exhale even from several paces away.

 _Home_.

A force of old habit. Rey doesn't have a home anymore, if she ever did to begin with.

"Do you see that dark cloud over there?"

Rey points westward where a shadow is growing on the horizon above the towering peaks.

Kylo clears his throat as she comes to stand next to him.

"It's a storm," she answers to herself. "Dust storm or rain storm. Oftentimes they stay caught in the mountains but sometimes… well, if it comes down and hits us it would be best if we're indoors and can stow ourselves away until it passes. Oftentimes there's more than one, too. Could be for days."

What Rey was trying to warn him was that coming out ere so unprepared was a fool's task indeed. They should have stayed in the city. Stayed in the miserable, bloody palace. He should have told her no when she demanded he come out here yesterday, and told her yes again when she told them to return to the city this morning.

When Kylo turns to her he's smiling, but ti's not his nice sort of smile. It's the other one.

"Lead on, my dear wife. My men and I are at your complete disposal no matter where you should choose to take us."

He extends a bent arm to her and Rey pushes it aside as she walks past him.

"Oh whatever that bloody means."

She draws herself up onto their horse, once again ignoring her husband's attempts to reach out to her.

* * *

By mid afternoon the desert sands had started to lash at them with the rising winds.

A storm was coming in. Rey knew the signs as sure as she knew anything. They weren't so far by distance from her home anymore, she'd managed to get them back on track. Still, it was a slow route ahead, and one that would take them a good few hours even under ideal conditions.

Ahead of them one of the guards curses as his horse starts to fret, stalling and stuttering in its forward progress.

"They're getting scared," Kylo says.

"Well perhaps you should have hired better."

The further their ill-considered journey progresses, the more Rey realizes that she only has herself to blame for the stupidity of the endeavor. Herself and absolutely, totally her husband for being such an enigmatic ass. The two bumbling inept guards were only a footnote to Rey's flowering crabby mood as the winds whip sand into her eyes and sting at her skin.

"I meant the horses, Rey. Not my guards."

"Oh."

They were in the foothills of the foothills at least. More open space for the winds to grow, but at least the fear of getting caught in a slot canyon had ebbed back.

And then she hears it.

Help.

Kylo's head whips to the side, his arms around her tightening.

"Did you-"

Help!

A child's voice. The first voice other than the four of theirs. In the middle of the desert. In the beginning of a storm. This didn't sit right with Rey. Not at all.

"Help me please!"

The winds are picking up dust along with the sands, and visibility is getting worse by the moment. A small shape can be seen off to the side. It's running for them and Rey sucks in a breath only to cough all the sand back out.

"Stop men!" Kylo cries out.

He yanks hard on the reins and their horse rears up, already badly spooked by the eminent onslaught. Ahead of them their guards are having similar problems, and the whole traveling party comes to an uneasy halt as a small and terrified boy runs up to them.

"Gods! What are you doing out here?"

Before Rey can stop him, Kylo grips the reins into her hands and leaps off their horse. The abrupt motion scares the poor beast even further, and Rey spends the next few moments trying to soothe it and keep it from breaking out into a panicked run with her still on top of it.

"D-D-Desmond," the seemingly fear-stricken child says. "My parents- I don't know where they are. Please help me! Don't leave me out here!"

The boy's voice rises with each syllable. Kylo is kneeling next to him, gripping his small shoulders as he tries to calm him.

Rey knows what this is. Beyond the shadow of a doubt.

How many times was she asked to do this very thing? How many times had some stranger approached her younger, desperate self and told her 'how hungry are you for a portion? Just let yourself be seen and have a good cry for us. We'll take care of all the rest. You'll sleep with a full tummy and easy dreams tonight, child. We'll tell you when to look away.'

"Kylo."

Her voice barely carries as the winds pick up. Rey thinks she knows where her home is now, but this- this _innocent_.

"Where did you last see them?" her idiot husband asks. "Were they alright? Had they been in an accident?"

Gods! It's like he's literally playing into their script!

"Kylo! We need to go! Leave the wretch where he is!"

All three of them, her husband and the two guards, snap their attention back to her to gape in open-mouthed astonishment. Rey hopes they get a tongue full of sand. The boy is the only one who doesn't seem appalled by her heartless words. His small face scrunches into a growl for just a second, just a flicker, before turning back into the wide-eyed tears of an angel as Kylo turns his attention back to him.

"Lad, it's not safe out here. Will you come with us? Please. We can help you."

Oh where in the bloody hells did her selfish prick of a husband's altruistic streak suddenly come from?

"Ma-mama and papa-"

"We will look for them as we go. Please, lad, come sit with-"

Kylo looks over his shoulder at Rey. Whatever expression her face must be making makes him visibly recoil. He dares to look _aghast_ at her, but he quickly recovers so as not to scare the poor little lost lamb in his arms.

"You'll sit with one of my guards. They are the best in all my kingdom. All of our eyes shall be looking for your parents and we'll find and take them with us too."

If Rey didn't have to keep both hands so tight on the reins to control her steed, she would have sparred one to face-palm. All _his_ kingdom. The karking fool.

The child nods and Kylo picks him up in his arms to bring him to the closer of the two guards. Over her husband's shoulder the boy looks at her. There's not a single tear streaking down on his dusty face.

When Kylo returns to her, joining her back on the saddle with a disapproving huff, it takes a great deal of Rey's patience not to throw him off again.

Rey wanted to wring his neck. But first she had to get them - _all_ of them- out of this storm alive.

* * *

Author's Note:

Happy Revenge of the Fifth! This is the SECOND half of yesterday's micro-chapter. Put 'em together and you've got the proper thing!

And I'm so terribly sorry that I'm behind on answering your lovely reviews! Please PLEASE keep reviewing, you nourish me and I love each and every review I get! I'll focus get back up to date, I pretty-please promise, this has just been such a crazy few days for me. Feed the hungry author, kindly. 333


	16. What Did You Think Was Going to Happen?

Chapter Summary:

Where our team of four-reluctantly-turned-five discover just how much of a capitol bitch the desert can really be.

* * *

The storm was getting worse by the moment.

Rey had known it was coming, the skies had been telling her that since they left the city, but she hadn't expected it to be _this_ bad. Clearly these last few years of domestication with Luke had dulled her survival senses.

"Hold steady! Don't let us get separated!"

Kylo shouts it at his men from over her shoulder and Rey flinches as her ears ring. The two guards are both struggling with their horses, the beasts starting to scare as the winds howl louder and louder. Kylo is keeping their own steed more steady, and he clearly has much more experience so she does her best to simply not get in his way. Before this Rey had only ever ridden on horseback but a few times and she doesn't doubt she'd have be bucked off by now if it wasn't for Kylo's firm grip on the reins.

"Easy. _Easy_."

Their horse whinnies. Rey can feel its muscles flexing underneath her. If it breaks free-

"Are we near your home?" Kylo has to almost shout it for her to hear him clearly. "Please say we are."

A sudden gust of even stronger wind sends rocks scattering across their path, Rey grips onto the horn of the saddle and Kylo tightens his arms around her.

Are they near, though? Rey's not sure. She's starting to think she recognizes a few things, but with so much dust flying everywhere it's hard to say for sure.

"Left now!" Rey calls out after the guards.

This will take them through a narrow slot canyon which should give a small break in the wind. Rey almost thinks that this particular canyon looks familiar. Can almost picture her younger self scaling its walls at one point in the long past. If she's right, it will shave off an hour or more of their passage, but going through it now carries with it the risk of flash floods and rockfall.

That's just one of the many concerns on Rey's mind, though. That boy. That small, deceptive child. He's trouble. She knows it in her bones. The very last thing she wants is to show him right to their doorstep.

"Kylo." She has to twist backwards to say it right into his ear so he alone can hear her. "The child. We'll find a place and we'll leave him. You have to trust me on this."

The look her husband gives her makes her feel somewhere far beyond wretched.

"Rey, he's _alone_. He needs our help. What you're saying is tantamount to murder."

Rey had been wrong. The slot canyon is even worse. The winds are now focused, siphoned down the narrow passage. She has to draw her shawl up around her face to be able to even breathe. Ahead of them she can barely see the red tunics of their guards.

"Faster," she tells him. "We have to get out of here. I'd thought it was a shortcut but this is suicide to stay."

The argument of the boy's fate is dropped, though Rey's not going to let it go for too long. Kylo tells her to hold on tight. She folds over the saddle, the only thing she has to grip, and closes her eyes as Kylo lets their steed finally break out into a run.

The winds sting at every exposed area of her skin. Rey coughs through her scarf, her teeth clacking together with each pounding gallop as their horse now runs in a free panic. If it were to rear up now they would both be thrown off and, at best, breaks their necks instantly.

Kylo shouts something and Rey can barely hear him. One of the guards shouts back and a loud crackle of falling rocks sends their horse racing faster still. Now it's all Rey can do to hang on and, when she finally forces her eyes open a crack, all she can see is dust and sand flying, darkening the air around them so it feels more like twilight than midday.

" _Kylo_."

She doesn't know what she's asking for or if he even hears her.

Another shout, this time much sharper. One of the guards has fallen. She sees his red coat from just the corner of her eye as they race past him.

Kylo cries out in a curse and yanks hard on the reins, trying in vain to stop their horse and go back for him. Not a chance. The beast they're on is running blind with fear and in the seconds the guard – whether he was alive or dead- is so far behind them that he's lost to the storm.

"Hold on!"

Kylo shouts it but Rey screams as she feels them jump. Their horse must have leapt over something because the three of them are airborn for a moment before they come crashing down. The impact is almost enough to knock Rey off but Kylo catches her, one of his arms grabbing around her waist and hauling her back up. He squeezes her so tight she can feel her ribs protest, but there's a literal light at the end of the tunnel.

 _Just a little more. You don't have to breathe for just a little more._

The mantra keeps Rey going. She's seen herself through a lot by just repeating a little more, she can take almost anything for just a little more. The whole saddle rig is starting to twist, and if their breakneck pace had kept on for much longer they would both have surely fallen one way or another. As it is now Rey has to almost throttle their poor horse, her arms squeezing as tightly around what she can reach of its neck as Kylo is gripping about her waist. Finally the narrow rock walls of the slot canyon open up, sending them spilling out into a new area of the desert.

No. Not a new one. She knows this place.

"I-"

Rey has to cough up several thick and gritty lung fulls of sand before she can speak. She pries at Kylo's hands as their pace slackens, their horse now having run itself into near exhaustion. Ahead of them is their other guard, and Rey frowns as she sees the little dark haired boy having his own coughing fit on the saddle in front of him. No sign of the third horse.

"Are you alright?"

Kylo's voice is as windswept as the land around them and Rey nods. They're not out of the danger yet, though. Not by a long shot. Even if they're in the open desert now the air is still thicker than smoke. Visibility is just a few meters at best and all around them the air seems to crackle and change.

"We're in the eye of the storm now," she wheezes. Kylo presses a flask of water into her trembling hands. When she's downed a few gulps he hands it over to a similarly disheveled guard, his once bright outer coat now a murky grey from all the dirt.

"Did we almost die?" the man asks. "My friend, he- I don't know what happened. His horse was right next to me and then he shouted. I didn't see what happened but suddenly he was behind me and then he was gone."

"How long do we have, Rey?" Kylo asks. "We have to go back. If he's still alive he's no doubt injured."

Rey looks over her shoulder at the canyon. It looms behind them as a dark slit in the rock. She shakes her head. Already the winds are starting to pick up again.

"There's no time. We have to keep going."

Her shoulders slump with the grimness of the truth. In nearly any other time she wouldn't leave a man to die such a miserable end, but they can do him no good if they all share in his fate by going back there into that deathly canyon.

Both Kylo and the guard look at each other. Rey knows they're weighing her statement, trying to decide if they should follow in her lead when it was her poor judgment that got them into this chaos to begin with. The child avoids her eyes. He's dirty, filthy even, and very slight for what she would assume to be his age. It's hard not to feel pity for him, for that was she herself not so long ago.

"Desmond," Rey carefully approaches the other horse once Kylo helps her down to quickly adjust their saddle. "You said that was your name. What are you really doing out here? Who put you up to this?"

"Just leave him be, Rey. Please."

Kylo calls it out but Rey ignores him. Tries to ignore the judgmental look in the eyes of their remaining guard or the way his arm draws the boy closer.

"Mama and papa-"

"Shut it. We're not going to leave you out here to die, but don't think for a minute I don't know what you are. If you tell us what waits for us, we can help you."

It's a stupid bargain, but Rey can't help herself. When she had been his age she had been made this same offer. She had said no then and gone hungry for more than the next week.

The child shakes his head sharply and cringes back, curling up even more around himself.

"Rey, _please_. The lad has been through enough."

She frowns, looking at the boy's feet. He's wearing new shoes. She spent most of her youth either barefoot or with whatever ill fitting and mismatched pair she could be so lucky to scavenge.

Their horse whimpers again, not happy to be mounted buy Kylo. The winds are stinging again, signaling the closing door to their brief reprieve from the storm.

"Fine then."

Rey takes Kylo's extended hand and lets him drag her up. If the others don't believe her, well then… they'll just have to see for themselves. Perhaps, with a change of tactics and a little kindness, she might be able to sway the child to their side?

"We will keep to the right of this rock cliff," she says. "Even if the storm picks up again so long as we have it to our left we won't get lost."

Provided their horses don't panic again. it's not far now, though. Rey had been right before. They aren't far from her old home. The slot canyon had been a torturous ordeal, but it may have been the only thing that saved them from all perishing to the sands.

"We'll go look for him as soon as the storm passes," Rey tells the other guard. "It should break before evening, though there's likely to be another round or two throughout the night."

"And the boy's parents," Kylo adds. "We'll look for them."

The small, dark head perks up at that. Rey rolls her eyes, drawing her shawl across the lower half of her face again as the air begins to become clogged with fresh dust.

"Perhaps his parents will _happen_ to find us," she mutters.

Talking is becoming too hard and arguing is pointless. Rey gives in directs them along the way. It's hard to see and growing harder as the winds start to howl. Even after these three long years, however, Rey knows this area well. The bend in the trail. The big boulder. A darker spot of ground where, if she was truly desperate, she could dig her height deep and find water.

"It won't be long now."

Rey tells it as much to her husband and her guard as she does to herself.

* * *

Shockingly, an ambush _hadn't_ been waiting when they crossed into the old stone circle that made the outside wall of her childhood home.

The whole place was in bad shape. Sands had blown deep and it takes a combined effort between her and Kylo to force open the front door. The guard was walking down their horses then tying them up at the old shed Rey had used to use to store her bulkier scavengings. She was greatly reluctant to let the little brat stay with him, but she also hardly wanted him too close to her and Kylo as they go through her old house.

Inside was a sobering experience. Obviously it had been looted through, but very little was taken.

"I guess I really didn't have much worth anything."

She picks up an old porcelain vase that now lies broken on the sand covered floor. It had little real value, but had been one of her favorites. If she had been so lucky as to find a flower, that's where she would keep it until it wilted and she would press it.

"Oh look at this," Kylo picks something up from a dirty corner of the room. "How nice."

It's her old Rebellion doll. The look he gives her when she snatches it back from his is sharply pointed.

"It wasn't like that," she answers. "I'd found some scraps. I made them into whatever the scraps happened to make best."

" _I'm sure_. So we're staying here tonight? Here with all the dirt and the snakes and the scorpions?"

He kicks at the floor and a large cloud of dust billows up.

"You're more than welcome to stay outside. The storm should be fully cleared in an hour, I won't stop you from stepping out early."

Rey pushes past him into the rear room. Her old bedroom. The mattress has been stripped away but the frame of her bed is still there. She can lay her bedroll out on that, but her rude husband wasn't wrong about the snakes and scorpions.

"Rey? What in- _Rey!_ "

She rolls her eyes, oh what now?

"Kylo, if you're not going to-"

"The horses are gone!"

Rey blinks at the strange statement for a moment. Then the words hit home and she runs, _runs_ out of the bedroom to the front door.

Just like he'd said. No horses. No guard. No boy. They couldn't have been in the house for more than ten minutes, but clearly ten minutes too long.

"That- that-"

"Rey. The horses are gone. How are the horses gone?"

"That… was _fast_."

Rey almost is a little impressed. The kid has technique. Obviously not working alone. Was the guard in on it, then? Or are there eyes watching them right now?

"Kylo, we need to go back inside. Now."

She tugs on his sleeve. He pulls away and steps forward further out into the open. Rey shrinks back into the doorway, half expecting a volley of arrows to descend upon her idiot husband and make her a widow.

Nothing. Just fading winds and shifting sands. It seems they're alone out here, at least for the moment. And now they're stranded. How lovely. Coming out to the desert really was a foolish idea after all, wasn't it?

* * *

Author's note:

Another shorter chapter but this one gets them in place and I wanted to start the events at Rey's old home on its own chapter. And don't worry, no horses were hurt in the backstages of this story, lol. The redshirts on the other hand… well lets just say that a redshirt has a special, unique cycle they go through in their role. They've now fulfilled their purpose, it's only natural.

Next chapter:

Kylo and Rey have a moment of peace together that's of course going to be rather short-lived!

I'm also going away on vacation and I won't be posting or replying to comments (going off the grid) until the 27th. Your comments give me life, so please don't think I'm ignoring ya'll! Now I gotta get back to work, got 2 more fanfics I want to post before our bus leaves this afternoon.

* * *

Comment replies:

Chapter 14 replies:

Anoha- Thank you! My business has been going pretty well, especially for a totally new startup where I've spent next to nothing on advertising. Thanks for your words of support! : D

ToughSpirit: I'm glad you liked this very brief update! Thanks for commenting!

.Feather - I was sad this chapter was small too but I just COULDNT miss May the 4th, right? Thanks for commenting!

pobrediabla – Thank you! I'll be back in late may with chapter 17! Thanks for commenting!

ldsrsc- Oh that's a good one! You'll find out, but it won't be for a long while! That's one of the big questions of this story! Thanks for commenting!

KMK101- Thank you! I'm so glad you liked this chapter!

Paul Lenzen- Sorry for the short chapter but I made it up qucik! I'll keep with the updating as often as I can, promise! : )

Thanks so much for sticking with this story and keeping commenting!

Guest! Thank you! I'm glad you liked this chapter! : )

Chapter 15 replies:

pobrediabla – Rey _tried_ to say something to dumb hubby, but he wasn't listening! He totally fell for the kid's schemes, unfortunately. Kylo here really is very smart, but it's not a street smarts. That's where Rey will come in, but he'll have to start listening to her first!

Thanks so much for commenting!

ldsrsc- Both Rey and Kylo really have a long story and character arc. They're both going to really change by the end of this story, I have all of their milestones all planned out! Thanks so very much for commenting!

ToughSpirit- Kylo has his heart in a good place, he really means well even if he's a total dolt about the obvious dangers. Rey and life is going to have teach him a hard lesson, that's for sure.

Thanks so much for commenting!

Benfan1- I'm glad you liked this chapter! I hope you'll also check tout the next few updates too!

Thanks for commenting!

Anoha- Rey's going to try her best, but there's a lot going on. The storm. The boy. The horses. The redshirts. Lots of different things she'll need to balance in these next few chapters!

And, as always, thanks for commenting!

.Feathers- Kylo really should listen to his wife, though he'll have to learn that the hard way.

As always, thanks for commenting!

ldsrsc- Both Rey and Kylo really have a long story and character arc. They're both going to really change by the end of this story, I have all of their milestones all planned out! Thanks so very much for commenting!

ToughSpirit- Kylo has his heart in a good place, he really means well even if he's a total dolt about the obvious dangers. Rey and life is going to have teach him a hard lesson, that's for sure.

Thanks so much for commenting!

Benfan1- I'm glad you liked this chapter! I hope you'll also check tout the next few updates too!

Thanks for commenting!

Anoha- Rey's going to try her best, but there's a lot going on. The storm. The boy. The horses. The redshirts. Lots of different things she'll need to balance in these next few chapters!

And, as always, thanks for commenting!

.Feathers- Kylo really should listen to his wife, though he'll have to learn that the hard way unfortunately.

As always, thanks for commenting!


	17. Decisions Made Under Duress

"The storm looks like it will come and go all night."

A splash of water comes from behind her but Rey refuses to look back. Not even when a few drops- flicked by a rude hand no doubt- fall across the back of her bare neck.

"Is that normal? For it to come and go like this?"

Another splash and Rey frowns, staring at the darkening hills around them. They had only set the water catchers out by her spring for the hour since the guard and desert rat had disappeared with their horses. Just one hour and already it seems like her husband was going to waste every drop of precious fluid on his 'nightly bath' rather than fill up their stores for tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow seems so far away now, but Rey knows it will come like it always does. Their problems haven't left them along with the guards and horses. No, they've only just started, haven't they?

"Rey?"

Wet fingers glide along her exposed upper back and Rey squeaks and scampers out of reach. She had bathed first upon Kylo's prompting insistence. Hers had been a quick and perfunctory splashing off of the sandstorm dust, and her husband had only somewhat honestly kept his promise to give her privacy during her ablutions.

"Um." Kylo was naked behind her. Rey knew this. She wasn't looking. Maybe was curious. Maybe. "The storm. Yes."

That's what they had been talking about. Too easy to get distracted around naked marriage proximity.

More splashing and Rey clears her throat and squishes her still-wet toes against the muddy silt she's standing on. Her spring was close to her house, but the trail badly overgrown. The wispy desert grass and briers were probably the only thing that had kept prying eyes from discovering her secret and moving into the abandoned homestead themselves.

"Sometimes sand storms happen like this," she says, "but not this time of year. It's more of a mid-summer event when the winds begin to shift from the south to westward bound."

The splashing stops and she extends the other sheet out behind her for him to dry himself with. Kylo's hand lingers a moment long on hers before he takes it.

"Tomorrow morning then?" he asks. "Shall we set out immediately? I would like to, before any more troubles befall us, but do you think the weather will clear and hold? You're the expert here, Darling Wife. I'll be relying heavily on your judgment."

The hills had been too quiet. Rey had seen shadows in the sand. They had been stormed, ambushed, lost one and maybe lost another.

Yet, despite all that, now her husband _still_ wants to go on his little adventure. Cross the sands and reach the coast. No more troubles. None at all. He makes it sound so easy.

The worst part of all of that was that Rey can't tell if Kylo's being condescending to her or not with his claim to belief in her.

"You know we should go back to the Palace," she addresses the rock walls surrounding them. "That's not _my_ judgment, My Lord, but rather the verdict of common sense."

"Well I don't want to."

Rey rolls her eyes. Looks over her shoulder to shoot her childish spouse a pointed glare then quickly looks back. He wasn't dressed yet, wearing naught but a far too-knowing smile.

"Lord Kylo, Prince of Alderaan," she addresses. Gods he sounds like a prat when she says his full name, doesn't he? "You will go back to the palace and abandon every part oft his stupid notion to go across the desert. That is my judgment for you."

Not just crossing a part of the desert. Not for _her_ husband. That would have been far too simple an impossible task. What he means is to nearly cross the damned thing in its entirety.

"Give up?"Kylo repeats. "Rey? Darling? Not a chance."

His voice is close and low in her ear and now Rey knows clearly that now he really is just riling her up.

"It's too dangerous."

Losing argument and she knows it, but she has to try. A bare arm reaches past her to pick up her little basket of soap and washrag. Rey could fight him so he wouldn't stupidly be carrying something she could easily do herself, but… but he's naked. Naked and will win every argument, which is so obviously why he's choosing to pick this one now.

"Rey. Say yes."

She turns to the side. His other arm- also bare and glistening with wasteful water- extends to trap her. She can't even look back at him like this, the karker.

"Yes? Yes to what? To… to agreeing to somehow travel three hundred kilometers at least across the desert? Never mind that we have no camels or horses? Hardly any food or water? Did you forget that part, Kylo? Or was it the fact that you're The Prince, not just A Prince, as well?"

She reaches for his bathing basket to smack him with it but he holds on, resulting in a childish tug of war before Rey stomps on his bare foot with her own.

"We'll find a way. I don't want to go back to the palace. Come with me."

"Why is this so bloody important to you?"

He retreats a step when she makes another pounding attempt on his toes and changes his tactics.

"It's getting dark, darling, do come in soon."

She hears his steps push against the sands, padding his way back to her hut. Only when he sounds a safe distance away does she risk a peek back.

The towel is draped over his shoulders and he struts away like a man without a care in the world. Even his winking backside seems to have an arrogant lilt.

Rey waits until he's disappeared inside before burying her face in her hands and giving in to a silent scream.

She's already lost this fight, hasn't she?

* * *

The winds started to howl again once the sun had set down.

Rey was actually relieved about that. The storm outside was a nasty one, that's for sure, but it wasn't without it's silver linings. Though her humble shack was as far a cry from the sumptuous marble walls of the palace as she could imagine, at least they weren't outside huddled behind a rock tonight. There was that, at least. And even losing their horses was not completely and utterly horrid, though it came close. She didn't know how the animals would have faired during the storm, but now they were someone else's trouble to manage.

"And no one will be able to ambush us again, not in a storm like this."

Kylo looks up from scowling at the salty broth she had made them for dinner. He blinks, then catches on to her random line of thought impressively quickly.

"The poor lost boy. You still think he holds ill will to us?"

Rey picks up a spoonful of her soup and flicks it at her husband's forehead. He dodges with a raised eyebrow.

"Kylo, a blind infant could have seen through that wretch's sorry tale. No doubt we will have to cross paths with his _caretakers_ if we really are to go through the desert, so that's yet another reason to forget the whole notion and simply go back to where you belong."

Kylo pats the surface of the soup with his spoon, but doesn't eat any more. He truly must have been a difficult child. Just jerky and water, nothing too troubling surely?

"Where _we_ belong, dear wife. You smartly married into money. It's your home as well as mine now."

He catches her hand in his own before she can douse him again.

"As if I had a say in that," Rey mutters, trying to ignore the decidedly unignorable way his thumb rolls over her knuckles in circles. "Now we're here. Inside, and clean. Er. Clean _er_. So no more excuses from you. Tell me about the ocean. Tell me about the port and why you're so hell bent on dragging us both to our deaths to get there."

Kylo's hand retreats then. He watches her for a long moment, and Rey gets the distinct impression that he's waiting for _her_ to answer her own question.

"Kylo-"

"My mother is returning to Alderaan."

Rey raises her eyebrows and waits for him to elaborate. H doesn't and she slowly slides her hand back to her side.

"Returning? The Empress?"

Kylo doesn't talk often about his mother, though now in the last few days more so than ever before. The Empress was returning? To govern Alderaan herself or… or to pass the reins on to her son, perhaps?

"I-" The social mores that Nevan had tried to instill in her would dictate she responds with a pleasantry. An 'oh how nice' or some such nonsense. But the rather serious expression her husband's giving her now as he watches her wheels turn bears warning that this must truly be a touchy subject indeed.

"I don't understand," Rey finally says. "Aren't you happy about that? The Empress has been away for a very long time. She's your _mother_ , surely you've missed her?"

Kylo's expression tightens. He turns his attention to the chipped drink mug in front of him, tipping his had from one side to another before replying.

'Miss her? Yes. But I don't know if… Well, I told you how, when we parted, it was on very poor terms. I'm afraid, Rey. Afraid of what will happen when she gets back."

This all has something to do with that letter, doesn't it? That blasted letter. Rey curses the day she ever heard the first whisper of it, but now Kylo's acting as if-

"Oh surely you don't mean that?" An idea, the most obvious one, dawns to Rey but she immediately dismisses it. "You're the first and only heir to the Alderaan throne. No matter what dispute you've had with your mother, surely she can't take your birthright away. Don't be silly."

He's the crown prince. The only prince. That's the long and short of it.

When Kylo pushes away from the table to stand, Rey isn't sure if she should follow him. He starts to pace and Rey remains seated, fidgeting now with the rough wood edge of her table since she has little else to distract herself with.

"She has enemies, my mother. Of course she does, anyone in her power would, but these I fear mean to take her long departure then sudden arrival to their advantage. Prove that the Alderaan crown is unfit and our priorities lay not where they should be."

Well, that's all very true. True, but hurtful right at this moment. Rey refrains from saying that part though, and opts instead to make the other obvious connection.

"That sounds like the Resistance. They told me something very much the same about you. Are you really so afraid of them that you're running off into the sands to hide?"

Kylo shoots her a dirty look and Rey drops her head, pretending to play with her rapidly congealing dinner.

"I'm not a fool, Rey. There's plenty of treachery going on right under our very nose, and I'm not only thinking of your terrorist allies. I've been letting so much slip through my fingers, but not any more. Now I'm going to change things. Now I _will_ prove myself."

With that, Kylo finally stops pacing. The room was too small for much of that, anyhow, and Rey takes a careful note of his glum but steely countenance as he returns to sitting across from her.

For the next few moments she thinks over the range of possible implications before speaking again. The empress was well liked by her people, her son well not, and his father somewhere in between. Chances are high that the truth of them all lies in the middle.

"It's starting to sound more like you're planning on thwarting an assassination attempt," she says. Surely though, not even my brash and arrogant husband would try such a thing on his very own, would he?"

"I want to set right what's wrong. Now give me your hand, I want to hold it."

Palm extended. Entitled. Face down. Avoiding her eyes.

Her husband in a nutshell.

Rey's hand extends, not fighting him when he grabs it and hold on tight.

"Or more like you're trying to show off for mummy and make her proud of her boy. Show her she was wrong about you."

Kylo picks at his soup but makes no attempt to eat it.

"Her ship arrives to the coast in two weeks. I want to see her. It's been too long. I want to be there waiting, and I want you to come with me."

A quest. He's giving her, giving _them_ , a quest. Just like from the storybook she had been reading. This is a call to adventure, and he's asking her to be his ally.

"We can't do it alone. It won't be safe for you."

The thrill of wandering off alone, just the two of them, into the open sands will lose it's luster very quickly for her pampered husband. Rey knows this for a fact. And two weeks to go so far? No. It's foolhardy at best. Life isn't a fairytale. This is not their grand adventure.

"Rey, darling, I believe it will be far safer alone than with anyone else. I have no one I can trust. Not with this."

But I can trust you.

He doesn't say it, but when Rey looks into his eyes she can see the words there. He has no reason to trust her. Many reasons _not_ to, in fact. But here he is, extending the proverbial olive branch all the while holding on to her hand so tightly she has no real chance to pull away.

"I… I should like to sleep on it," she concedes. "In the morning I'll give you an answer. Tonight we're not going anywhere anyhow, so let's wake up with the dawn and let the storm decide for us."

A beat passes between them. A long one. Rey can see him struggle to accept her answer. See him fight back the urge to demand that he gets what he wants the moment he wants it.

Then he seems to take victory over himself. He lets go of her hand and nods, gesturing at their meal with a tip of his chin.

"Thank you for making dinner, Rey. It's lovely. Truly something born out of the fiery underbelly of hell to warm our tired souls on this stormy night."

Rey gapes at him. The way his face puckers when he takes another bite is ridiculously unneccesary.

"Spoiled brat," she mutters.

Kylo smiles. Presses his palm against his lips and Rey watches him for too long before looking away.

"This soup Rey. My goodness. Fiery belly of hell."

"It's jerky and broth, Kylo. Nothing more."

"Oh?" His eyes flick up and hold her own until she glances away at their dim fire. "I see I called the dish by its rightful name then. Good on me for that."

This time, when Rey flicks a spoonful of hell-broth at him, her husband doesn't manage to doge in time. The highly affronted look as he swipes it off his cheek makes it all worth while. Almost.

* * *

Their marriage bed for the evening was a dusty, musty old wooden palette with naught but a few threadbare scraps of fabric draped across it.

That didn't stop Kylo from pouncing on her and latching on tight as soon as Rey snuffed out the candle.

Outside it was another lull in the storm. Streaks of moonlight were spilling in from the abundance of cracks in the wall and roof. Rey should be more concerned about snakes and scorpions than she was her husband's roving hands, but the latter way driving her to absolute distraction.

He was rubbing the outside of her hip, sliding his palm from just above her knee to the dip of her waist and then back again. The movement was slow, soft, and as maddening as his silence as he was doing it.

It was so much. Too much. His breath was warm in her ear, his body so close to hers. It made Rey feel very squirmy, but she couldn't let herself do that because then he'd know he was getting to her. So instead she squeezed her legs tightly together to hold herself still, but that started to cause other discomforts as well.

Rey swallows into the darkness, praying for dawn to come soon even though night had only just began. She hears Kylo lift his head up from next to her and stare down at her.

"Restless, my darling?" His voice is a deep purr. Rey hates him. Hates him so much. "I should have thought you exhausted. What with how quick you had demanded we stop our dinner and retire."

Well the conclusion of their evening hadn't exactly happened that way, but trust her husband to twist her 'no more talking about our troubles tonight, Kylo, alright?' into something that sounded intrinsically debauched.

His hand falls still at her waist now, his fingers strumming against her still largely empty belly. Why was he touching her like this? Touching her at all?

It takes Rey a good few breaths before she can trust herself to speak.

"I can't sleep," she whispers. "I feel like we're being watched."

It was the judgmental eyes of her former self. If only young and starving Rey could see them now. Married, swaddled in silk, laying almost in the dirt and contemplating how a husband that she barely knows could make her feel so many things at once.

"There's no one here, Rey. Just us."

He whispers it right back, breathing more than saying the words against the shell of her ear and the discomfort between her legs only grows in intensity.

When he kisses her temple Rey starts to tremble and this time she can't stop it. Kylo's hand lift from her waist to her shoulder, and he slowly turns her over onto her back.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

She can't see him fully. Just a strong, dark shape with hair even blacker than the night around him. Outside the clouds over the moon shift, darkening the room until all that's left is the memory of his silhouette.

"K-Kylo."

Warm breath against her lips. He hasn't kissed her yet. Hasn't dared.

"Why are you so afraid of me, Rey? You become like this every time that I touch you. What are you afraid that I'm going to do to you?"

Oh he doesn't get it. Rey is rather relieved that he doesn't, truthfully. Because she's not so much afraid of him but rather herself around him. That's far more dangerous and wicked.

"You make me... nervous."

The room brightens and the winds dull. He's smiling, so pale against the moonlight.

"I can tell," he answers.

His hand moves to cup her face and Rey sucks in a breath as he throws a leg over her own, pinning her under him.

"One word, Rey. Stop. And I will," he promises. "Now tell me, how much you know about pleasure?"

Rey's eyes widen and his smile grows. She wishes the bloody moon would stop being her enemy and his ally.

"W-what?"

His fingers trace her lips, not dodging when her tongue flickers out to wet them without her thinking of it.

"Pleasure, Rey," he repeats. "The act of something happening to make you feel good. How much do you know of it?"

Well the karking book he had all but forced upon her had a whole sequence of chapters regarding that one word. On giving it and receiving it and knowing it. Rey had looked at those pages, skimmed them, maybe read them in more detail but with diminishing returns of understanding.

She can't think about such things now, though. Now when her husband's heady presence is demanding every drop of her attention.

Rey shakes her head, her voice leaving her at the memory of some of the artwork the book had provided. Confusing indeed.

"Because you seem more _nervous_ about pleasure than about me. Me you're annoyed at. You snap at. You pretend not to like. But the second I start touching you – touching more than just holding your hand but sometimes even then- you seize up. Become a meek and shy little mouse. Not the wife I've come to know at all."

Meek? Shy? _Meek?_

Rey's anger sparkles to life quickly. Her husband was good at kindling that. She sucks in a breath to protest but falters to a stop when he shifts positions again, rising up onto his elbows and knees to pin her under him at four corners. The gesture is as effective as if he'd draped her in irons, and he's not even really touching her save for his palm stroking hr cheek.

"See?" he asks. "Just like that. You act like I'm torturing you."

His hand now drifts down to her neck, his touch so slight but Rey still knows he must be able to feel her pulse hammering under her skin.

"Aren't you?"

"No."

His fingers drift to her clavicle, tracing the shape of it. Following the contours of her skin by his touch when the ever changing moonlight won't allow him to with his eyes.

"How does this feel?" he asks. "Does this bother you? Hurt you? Do you want me to stop?"

If Rey were able to answer, she'd have to breathe first. As it is, her lungs are aching from need for oxygen. It's all fine, though, Kylo seems to be breathing hard enough for the both of them.

"No? Shall I continue, then?"

His fingers lift, catching her chin, and drawing her face up. His lips are so terribly close, but they only barely ghost over her own before his head drifts lower.

Kylo kisses her neck, right over her pulse point, and Rey gives in to the need to whimper.

"Rey."

He pulls away just far enough to nuzzle the edge of her chin with his nose. She's trembling rather badly now, fisting the threadbare sheets under her with both hands, and her husband's a madman if he thinks she can answer him right now.

"It's alright, Rey," he hums, voice tickling her suddenly hypersensitive skin. "I knew you were untouched, but… but perhaps I underestimated exactly how far so. You've never even had someone else do this to you, have you?"

If there was any doubt about what _this_ meant, Kylo makes himself clear with another ghost of a kiss to the column of her neck. He draws it out this time, his lips so feather light that Rey could almost believe they weren't' really there were it not for the loss of heat he left behind in the wake as he moves down. Kylo places his next kiss right in the center between her collarbones and, when his hand lets go of her to begin to untie the top bow of hr gown, Rey catches it in her own to stop him.

"Please."

Please stop. Please keep going. Please don't put me in this situation. Please ignore me.

"You're breathing awfully hard, Rey."

His head lifts though his hand stays, and Rey immediately misses the feel of his closeness.

"So no one else has ever pleasured you, then? No one at all?"

Rey swallows again. Her mouth is suddenly very, very dry. She shakes her head, not trusting her voice.

Kylo hums, his lips next touching her forehead. He seems entirely too pleased with her answer.

"And what of yourself, Rey? When you touch yourself, how do you do it? Tell me. Show me. Show me how you like to touch, and I'll show you how to do it better."

The book had covered that, what she thinks he's alluding to, but Rey had skipped that chapter. _Honestly_ had skipped that chapter. Somehow it had seemed far too indecent. As if two bodies intertwined like a caduceus wasn't lewd enough, the idea of one person alone-

"I haven't." Her voice squeaks, on the verge of breaking. "I'm… not that sort of girl."

The kind of girl who had so little to do with her time that she could fall to idle temptations all on her own.

Kylo stares at her, his hair hanging on all sides of their faces. Sh doesn't have a clue what he's looking for, because now they're both so in shadow she can't see him at all.

"Yes, I had wondered that," he finally says. "It- with your narrative, it _fits_. And you've made me so very happy tonight, Rey, though I doubt you shall appreciate me saying that."

Appreciate? Rey barely even understands him. Something about masculine arrogance. That's _his_ narrative. That _fits_.

"You're an arrogant ass."

She feels more than hears Kylo's muffled laugh.

"Darling… you keep calling me that and I'm going to start to think you care. Now shall we continue?"

Rey realizes that she had been unknowingly squirming under him. Pinned down but free to run at any moment. Her husband was a clever bastard, wasn't he?

"Continue with what?"

His weight shifts. The bed creaks. Absently Rey thinkings that his knees must be paining him, kneeling on a hard surface like this just to torment her.

"Our game," he answers. "Let's make a bet. Let's make it really interesting."

He flops to one side, his hand catching her hip to pull her on to her own to face him.

"I'll make a deal with you, Rey. I'll keep doing what I was doing to you, and then I'll stop. If you didn't like it, tell me. That will be my answer. We'll go home to the palace tomorrow, just like you want. However," his hand sweeps a lock of hair out of her face and Rey presses her lips together, "if you _did_ like it and want me to keep going, then that's _your_ answer. We'll cross the desert and go to my ocean."

Rey had almost been ready to agree to that before he even made this perverse bargain, but she certainly can't tell him that now. She props her head up on her elbow to stare at him better and he mirrors her, that damnable hand of his going back to her hip to pull her body flush to his own.

"Deal?" he asks.

Her clothing is sheer. Her ridiculous Wife's Outfit lewd through and through. That's why his palm feels so warm against her.

She answers with a nod.

"Deal." The barest whisper.

Rey doesn't have to see her husband to know that he's smiling. She can feel it in the way he kisses her, though. The press of his lips to her own. The steady insistence of them. Rey sighs into his mouth, and he takes that as an invitation to snake his tongue inside to play with her own.

This is a much more intense kiss than he'd given her before, not that they had shared more than a few. Rey feels herself getting swept away by it, all the strength in her body laving her as he guides her to her back again, his lips never leaving her own.

Now that she's given her blessing, more or less, his hands aren't so shy. He strokes her stomach, her hips, the underside of her breasts. Rey moans again as her whole body seems to come alight. It almost truly feels like she's on fire, but there's no pain to it, just a consuming ache.

When his thumb flicks over her nipple Rey throws her head back, a sickly sweetness settling deep in her core. She's felt pangs of physical desire before, but never even remotely as keenly as this now.

"Rey," Kylo asks.

He doesn't give time for her to answer, opting instead to start kissing down her neck then back up again. The knot in her stomach tightens, demanding _something_ , and pressing her legs together as his hand wanders along the seam of them only seems to make the feeling grow all the more.

When he takes the lobe of her ear between her teeth and gently, so gently, nibbles, Rey almost feels ready to explode.

His hand finds her breast, palming it, and Rey has to grab his head, sinking her fingers into his dark locks, and crush her mouth against his to bury the sound she finds herself making.

Kylo pulls away then, drawing out a choked whine from Rey's lips before she can catch it. The urge to touch between her legs is strong. It feels like she's rather messy down there, but surely not?

His hand goes back to her head, stroking her face, and Rey can now feel the perspiration sticking her hair to her forehead.

"Did you like that Rey?" he asks. "Your first true glimpse of how I can make you feel?"

Don't stop. Don't stop. Her body is so demanding, so bothersome. It's embarrassing.

Another quick press of their lips and Rey sags, slumping weakly against the hard bed frame as she tries to fight back the urge to surrender completely to this.

Kylo angles himself, keeping the lower part of his body away from touching the lower part of hers, and Rey wonders if this was having a similar effect on him as well?

"The palace or the desert, Rey?" he finally asks. "Which will it be for us?"

If she had a clear head, Rey could make a clear decision. Her husband's just seen to it that that would eb an impossibility.

"Desert," she says, voice weak and thin in the warm night air. "To the desert and to the ocean."

What a terrible choice. But Rey doesn't regret it for a second. Not even one.

Kylo nods, his eyes dark but glittering under the returning moonlight. Rey stops him with a hand to the middle of his chest when he moves to kiss her again.

"No- no more. Not tonight. Please."

Rey doubts she could withstand any more of her husband's _pleasuring_. She might die from it, truly, with the way her heart is all but pounding out of her chest.

Mercifully Kylo nods and pulls away, but only for so long as to grab the bottom edge of his tunic and pull it over his head. Then, bare chested, he pulls her into his arms again and places her head on his shoulder.

"What are you-"

"Intimacy, darling. The skin to skin contact will strengthen our bond. We will need this connection, I'm sure, in the weeks to come."

His hand settles on the small of her back and Rey swallows.

"Strengthen our connection? Which one of your- of your _wives_ taught you that one?"

Which one of them dared to spend the night with you? That's what she's truly asking.

Kylo's silence tells her everything she needs to know.

Well you know what, Nevan? Suck it. Rey's here, she's not. Rey's the one about to go across the desert with _her_ husband, Nevan's stuck at the palace. Who gets the last laugh now?

Or perhaps she should ask herself that a few days from now when her husband's idiotic determination comes crashing down full force?

Until then, Rey was absolutely positive it was going to be a sleepless night.

* * *

Rey was _absolutely positive_ it was going to be a sleepless night.

Except she was wrong. Absolutely wrong.

Somehow she had actually nodded off. She suspected rather early, in fact, though in the morning she could blame that on the trials of the day they ahd faced and not the heavy warmth and security of her husband all around her.

She had fallen asleep no doubt, though. An oddly pleasant dream had swept through her mind, drawing her deep into the waters of unconsciousness. Something about and adventure. A happy ending that belonged to someone other than herself.

And it all fell away with a sudden, abrupt return to consciousness.

The room was dark. Very dark. No moon but no storm. Kylo was behind her, and the only sound was his deep and steady breathing.

No. Not the only sound. A creak. A footstep.

Oh Rey knows her home. Knows it's noises as it settles with the wind.

Except there is no wind, and there should be no noise.

A shift in the air currents caresses against her bare skin. That's the only hint Rey has that the bedroom door has opened.

They're not alone anymore. Someone is in her house, looking for them, and now they've just been found.

* * *

author's note:

Heh, getting a little warmer here :) Finally, right?

Sorry for the bit of head hopping during their touchy-touchy scene. I tried to be really subtle with jumping into Kylo's thoughts for just a second, and I normally wouldn't do that at all but it worked with the scene!

And also sorry for the delay. Over the last week I've flown back to the US with my family for an extended visit (we're semi-permanently living in prague now for #reasons, but we're going to be at our homes in TN then Idaho from now until November). It's always a big, jetlaggy transition. No one was living at our house over the winter so the water pipes had busted so we had to fix those, need to get our cars up and running, and there was an incident with a snake I'll skip right on past, but let's just say that we've had our hands full and no time for writing!

Oh and I've got some new fanfiction updates hopefully coming up soon. 1 new piece which, er, well… you'll see. And then the next of H2H and ch2 of Lost Little Lamb. Work work work, self, get on it!

* * *

Comment replies:

ToughSpirit: Had to rip the bandaid off quick and Rip the redshirts since commentors were starting to bond with them! They fulfilled their purpose in life at least, right? Thanks for commenting (as always!)

ldsrsc: Well.. you'll see! Desmond makes his appearance again later, so you'll get an answer soon! Thanks for commenting!

Anoha: Ha! Yeah, it didn't take long did it? Thanks for commenting!

KMK101: Update soon? Er… kinda not really, but I DID update eventually so half credit? Thanks for commenting!

Darkjedi: I'm glad you found this story and enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen: Oh don't feel too bad for the guard, it's all part of nature's great plan, lol! Thanks for sticking with this story and commenting!

Benfan1: Indeed eh should have listened to her, but Prince Kylo's not very good at taking advice from his wifey! Thanks for commenting!

Jhsbradford: Thanks! It's one of my favorite tropes and I wasn't too sure how many people (ya'll young whippersnappers out there in the Reylo fandom) would catch onto it! Thanks for commenting!

Pobrediabla: Thank you so much for sticking with this story despite my long updates! You're the best! : )


	18. A Flash of Red and Silver

Summary:

Where Kylo and Rey go bump in the night.

* * *

Their footsteps were too soft. Too deliberate.

Rey grips at Kylo, her whole body tightening as she wordlessly pleads with him to wake up. He doesn't. Of course not. Instead her sleeping husband misunderstands urgency and pulls her tighter, his arm along her back drawing her closer to his chest.

The footsteps stop. The room is dark, but not too dark. Rey can see the dark, hunched over shape just as clearly as she knows they must see the whites of her own eyes shining in the muffled moonlight.

She screams when they leap, and it's her old life that saves her from the knife in their hand. Years of well-honed survival instincts take over her rational thought. She kicks out, pushing her whole weight at the back of the assassins bent knee. Her elbow to his face resonates along her whole arm, and then her husband surges up in a tangle of confused strength and tattered bedsheets.

To his thick-headed credit he doesn't stop to ask what's going on. The assassin- dark robes, red, and white a knife glinting in an arc through the air- rolls back, sinking into the corner of the room.

They're unarmed. Or wait, they're not. Rey has her quarterstaff, but it's stupidly in the other room.

The assassin leaps, and Kylo throws him against the wall. He was fast. Rey hadn't even seen him move, but then he has the stranger pinned, the two of them fighting for ownership of the wicked looking blade that nearly seems to glow with each glint of light. It's pointing right at her husband's neck, a battle of strength against strength as Kylo tries to peel the gloved fingers back from it.

Rey spins, turning to run for the door and get her staff. Hells, get _any_ weapon, even a karking fry pot.

Hands seize her. Grab her and toss her, and for a pain filled moment all Rey sees is colored stars and blackness.

Stupid girl. Assassins never work alone.

It's Kylo's sharp cry that snaps her back from her daze just as quickly as she'd fallen to it. There had been a foot on her back, pinning her down and choking the air from her, but it leaves. Thundering steps to the bedroom and Rey coughs, hacking up all the years of dust the old floor had gathered.

She's not their target then. But of course not. Why would she be?

This main room is darker than the bedroom, but Rey's hands still find her staff even though her eyes cannot.

Then she up. Bounding. Her husband cries out again, but this time so does someone else.

The body is flung at her or near her. One of the assassins, and the other is a tangle of darkened limbs, wrestling with her husband over the bed they had just slept in.

Rey hits the man at her feet hard. Not enough to kill him- unless he is already- but _enough_.

There's blood on the sheets. Their other attacker is strangling Kylo, the torn bedding wrapped around his neck and her husband claws at him from behind. It must be his blood then? Otherwise he would just throw him off?

Rey shrieks but she won't know that until later.

Just like the assassin's on Kylo, she's on him. Rey throws herself onto his back, drawing her quarterstaff across his throat.

The man bucks, trying to toss her off but that only makes it worse. She doesn't let go of her grip, the meat of her weapon pressing into his trachea until he starts to gurgle.

Kylo elbows him hard, nearly get Rey as he does it, and the three of them crumple backwards to the floor.

Rey pins with her legs, squeezing with her arms and trying to draw the staff to her chest as if there wasn't a man between them.

Heat blooms into her leg. He stabbed her, the karker, and Kylo boxes him square across his jaw.

Blood. Some of it's hers. And then silence.

Kylo falls to his side. His body heaves. Oh, he's bleeding. Rey can't see how bad it is, not with her being pinned under the both of them. She can't breathe, either, not even enough to tell Kylo she can't.

He gets it though. Takes a few moments longer than she would have liked, but Kylo struggles to stand and settles on kneeling.

"Rey."

The body is peeled off her, shoved limply to the side.

" _Rey_?"

It had been a question before, too. Rey just hadn't noticed that.

He draws her up, the shakes starting to come now that the delayed nausea of adrenaline hits her full-force. Did they just-

A shuffle comes from outside. Something big.

Rey's eyes widen. She nods at Kylo. She's okay. Or not. Maybe. He tries to take her staff from her and her hands won't let go, but they still claw at him as he struggles to his feet.

Another shuffle. Something being knocked over. Rey can't see in the dark, of course, but now it almost feels like she can see in slow motion.

Kylo limps, opening the door, and she's right behind him, staff ready and her mind automatically maneuvering her feet over the unconscious first body at the doorway.

A horse greets them, half in and half out of their front door.

"Oh," Kylo says.

"Gods."

He looks back at her. So does the horse. All four eyes drop down and right, Rey suddenly remembers she's _just been stabbed._

"Oh!" she cries, mimicking her husband's simple statement as her hands fly to her leg.

Her strength buckles and she slumps, guided to a chair by her husband who keeps saying her name over and over. She wishes he'd stop that, her ears are already ringing and he's scaring the horse.

"More of them?" she manages to gasp.

Her leg feels on fire. The wound must not be too bad, but it's bleeding and she don't care. If they're not safe yet-

"Rey, please," Kylo takes her face in his hands. Why? "Calm down."

He's kneeling. His chest is red. It can't be too bad either, right?

"K-Kylo, there are-"

"Only two, Rey." He presses his forehead to hers. One or both of them is clammy with sweat. "There- there may be more coming but please, calm down, you look like you're going to have a heart attack."

Rey looks down then.

Kark.

She'd been clawing at the base of the chair, and only now does she realize that she may have been calm on the inside but the reasons she's still breathless is because she's gasping, crying silent tears.

Breathe. Breathe.

Stupid Uncle Luke and his stupid self-control advice. Somebody just tried to kill her! But… but…

"Okay. You're okay."

And he crushes her to his chest. His wet chest. Near to them the horse whines and all the fight or flight momentum drains out of Rey at that soft sound.

he's right. If there were more assassins, the horse would be spooked. They'd be attacked by now.

"Kylo-"

"We need to go, Rey. More will be coming when… if these two don't come back soon."

Sh nods. Forces herself to. Straighten up, you stupid girl. Now is the time to focus and _think_.

Kylo's sticky warmth leaves her and Rey fumbles for a match. One single candle, that's all she'll allow them, and it still takes her all of seven tries with badly shaking fingers to light it.

The room's an even bigger mess and her dress is ruined by royal blood. Kylo looks first at her wound then at his own.

"I… we were very lucky. They're deep but the angles just skimmed."

Rey's wound was largely on the small amount of puppy fat she carried on her upper thighs. Painful and bloody, but her fear had made her into a baby. She's suffered worse injuries falling on rusted metal during her scavenges, it had just felt like so much more in the heat of the moment.

Kylo's, on the other hand, is long and wide. She'd thought it had only been on his chest but his face caught the edge of it as well. When he moves, she can see how much he's trying to hide it.

"Serves me right for not wearing a shirt, huh?"

He smiles without humor and Rey frowns, shaking her head without a coherent thought to offer back.

"Rey?" he kneels again. "We need to go. Can you go?"

She nods and he helps her up. Oooh. For a comparatively small wound it hurts like the hells.

"Are they dead?" she asks, calling over her husband's shoulder as she cringes, reluctant to enter the bedroom with him.

Kylo turns the head of the first assassin from side to side. He has the candle with him and the room Rey's in is dark and horrid.

"No. Just unconscious. Would you like them to be dead?"

Would she- gods, his question is even worse than the darkness! When he looks back at her, her expression must give her away.

"I don't know them," he says, standing up again with a visible grit to his teeth. "Hired goons, but it's not like they'd wear the company colors for this job, would they?"

Rey takes a single step closer.

Red and black. That's what they're wearing. Kylo pulls back their face masks and one of them grunts only to be silenced back into unconsciousness by a sharp backhand.

"I, um," Kylo wipes a hand across his face and Rey realizes how stupid she must look cowering int h shadows like this.

"Kylo," she tries to keep her voice steady, "we need a plan. Who are these men?"

He shakes his head.

"I have my suspicions, unless you would care to chime in?"

She blinks.

"I didn't-"

"I know, okay, _I know._ "

For a long moment they look at each other, the only movement from the flickering flame of the candle as it dances about the drafts of her old home.

"How long until dawn?" Kylo asks. "How much water do we have?"

It takes a breath for his words to round out, then Rey immediately snaps into action. Right. Yes. Survival. They can analyze and panic about this later. Now it's time to get out and get out quick.

She turns, glancing at the setting moon behind the horse's head. There was only one animal, but that's was probably better. Fewer resources needed to keep it as well as themselves alive.

"About two hours. How long should- they'd be close, wouldn't they? Whoever they were with?"

Close enough that already the assassin's failure to report their mission's success had probably been noted.

Kylo starts to strip the men of their robes. As much as Rey hates the idea, it's not a bad one. They're own clothes are bloody, these aren't. They look of the right fabric for the desert, too.

"Is there any other way out of here but through the front entrance?" Kylo asks. "Some hidden trail we could take the horse on?"

Rey had been packing up their meager food. More accurately she'd been throwing it all into a bag, her limbs suddenly unable to move fast enough with her racing mind.

She looks up, then, and stares at the corner of the wall.

"Yes, that way," she gestures to where she had been staring. "An old path, unless its overgrown by now. It goes right by the water pit."

"Then we'll fill up there. Do it quick and quiet. And Rey?"

She turns her attention jerkily back to him.

"What?"

"We'll need to keep calm. Both of us. Otherwise we'll spook the horse and he'll make noise."

She never knew too much about those animals, but Kylo sounds confident. As confident as a man who was almost a victim to regicide could, under the circumstances.

Kylo takes their only bag of belonging and slings it over his shoulder. It clatters noisily, and she tightens a second loop of rope on it to keep it quieter.

Before they leave, Rey presses a kitchen knife into Kylo's palm.

"I'm not giving up my staff," she tells him.

"I know."

He blows out her candle for her, then off they go, disappearing into the night just as quickly and quietly as their unwanted guests had come to their home.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope you liked this short little chapter! We're about to start another big stage of their journey, and you'd better believe that crossing the desert won't be a simple honeymoon trek!

* * *

comment replies:

Paul Lenzen – Thank you! Glad you liked this chapter! You find out part of the "who found them" next chapter (which I assume you just read since I post these replies at the bottom!) but it really should be "who hired them?" And, for that, all in due time!Thanks for commenting!

Benfan1 – Glad you liked it! This update didn't take me too long so I hope I didn't keep you waiting too much!Thanks for commenting!

White Demon Feathers – Heh, Rey's learning a lot of things from her husband, and trust is slowly but surely one of them! Kylo's plan, if he had one, has certainly taken a bit of a left turn with ch18 events, so it will be interesting to see how they both cope with this change in for commenting!

Anoha – Ah, Nevan… you just know that fancy lady is going to show up again, no doubt at the worst possible moment! And Kylo has zero shame (like ZERO) while Rey has plenty for the both of them. Makes for a fun odd couple, doesn't it?Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit – Sexy times indeed, though recent events in this last chapter have thrown a bit of a monkey wrench (it's their monkey business ;). they managed to defend themselves alright… for now. Definitely time to get out of there!Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc – It's an interesting dynamic (I hope) that Rey and Kylo are both cripplingly afraid of intimacy and getting hurt, but they compensate for it in opposite ways. And yes, jealousy is a HUGE factor in Rey's psyche, probably more than she knows!Thanks for commenting!

Angelique Sauvegarde – Heh, I don't mind at all! Our cabins are waaay up to the north in the panhandle about 12 miles from the Canadian border. Sort of near Sandpoint (about an hour and a half away)

Pobrediabla – Talented indeed! Rey's in over her head, but so is Kylo, really! There's more fun to come, but first they need to get out of dodge!


	19. Into the Shining Sun

"We should name her."

Kylo's voice was just a soft whisper, but Rey jumped nonetheless. One of his hands falls feather-light on her arm and stays there.

"What?" she asks, her iron grip on the saddle slackening.

"Our horse. We should name her. She's going on this great journey with us. She'll need a name."

A _great_ journey. Only her husband would think of slipping away into the deep desert wastes under the cover of darkness from a band of would-be assassins as a _great_ journey.

"You're right, I suppose." He has a point, though Rey always hates to admit that. "You name her for us. I can hardly think straight right now."

Kylo nods before his chin comes to rest on her shoulder, their movements swaying together with each of the slow and careful steps their horse chooses on the moonlit trail.

"Amidala," he says after a time. "Dala for short."

Rey's eyelids sag until she shakes them open again with a toss of her head.

Amidala? Why?"

"My mother's middle name."

 _Oh._

For someone who has such a strained relationship with his mother, her husband was apparently quite the momma's boy.

"Dala," she repeats. "I like it."

Kylo reaches around her to pick up the reigns and slacken the pace. The next good few minutes pass by in silence with just the three of them. Rey had roughly chosen a path for them, opting to use the stars to direct them in the opposite direction from both her old home and the citadel that now was well behind them. Out into the deep desert wastes is where they were headed. First it will be canyons and a small but not to be underestimated mountain range they must cross. Gods be with them that they don't encounter yet another sandstorm or this second time they might not be so lucky. Then after the land will turn into a dry and cracked rolling plain of dusty mud flats that would offer a scant reprieve of trees and rocks for shelter. Along that way they had the best chance of encountering a trade caravan for supplies… if they dare take the risk.

"The hardest stretch will be in a few days if we're lucky," Rey says to the stars.

Behind her Kylo stirs, seeming to be on th verge of sleep despite their recent peril.

"The what? Oh. Yes, you said there were dunes. Lots and lots of dunes."

Rey nods. Allegedly there were many kilometers of rising and falling sandunes after the dusty flatlands. They would have to cross their harsh barrenness before they reach the start of the coastal damp. Allegedly because Rey had only ever gone as far as the edges of the cracked trade plains, and what lay beyond them was the subject of rumor rather than known fact.

"I think… I think we shall be alright with water until the start of the dunes," she tells him. "Having Dala with us will put us at a greater strain. A camel would have been better. This time of year though I think the springs should still run at a trickle if not more."

"And in the dunes?"

Rey swallows. She was a desert dweller, that much was true, but there was still so much she didn't know.

"Maybe someone will tell us. We'll have to pay them, I'm sure. To be trusted with he location of an oasis or well will come at a high price."

"I have money with us. Plenty of gold. It won't be a problem."

Spoken so casually and carefree. His blasé attitude makes Rey bite her tongue and shrug free of her husband's sleepy cling.

"A fool and his money are soon parted," she warns.

He kisses her shoulder before pulling away and wrapping her up tighter in the assassin's shawl.

* * *

Dawn broke in a beautiful streak of pink nearly splitting the sky in half.

The three of them had come to rest against a large boulder high up on a hill. The spot would give them good protection from both the elements and any seeking eyes, while still allowing them the vantage to best plan their route.

Kylo had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd rolled out their hastily created bedrool. Dala had a similar reaction, growing still and Rey imagined her eyes heavy and half-lidded though truth be told she had no real idea how or when horses actually slept.

For she herself there was not a chance. She was too fretful over what had happened just hours before and the unknown perils surely to come.

So Rey had gone on patrol. She had taken her staff with her and the knife pinned to her side gave her a sense of purpose. Leaping from boulder to boulder and clinging to the forming shadows may have been unnecessary after having rode most of the night, but it was very cathartic.

Chase the demons. Fight the demons. Defeat the demons.

Okay, maybe that was a little too dramatic, but it felt right at this moment. If Rey had an enemy in front of her now, she could properly vent her repressed feelings. All the tension and urge to scream and cry and run or maybe just hide herself under a rock or fallen tree until the world was a better, brighter place.

Instead, Rey falls to shadow fighting. It was an old habit of hers from back even when she was a child, though in recent years her technique had greatly improved. Despite the chill in the air, it's not long before she breaks out into a sweat. Repeating the stances that she both learned on her own and had been taught by Luke. A calm starts to come over her, and it's not until she feels the weight of eyes upon her does she stumble for the first time during this morning's practice.

"Forget I'm here," Kylo says from the sidelines, "you were doing wonderfully."

There's a great deal of warmth to his tone. Too much, perhaps, and Rey toes at a pebble on the ground.

"I- I was just finished. It was to clear my head."

Kylo nods and steps forward to take her staff from her. He twirls it from one hand to the other as if testing the weight of it. Back in the palace she'd seen him train with a similar weapon himself.

"I guess we could both use this," she says, "if the situation comes to it."

Kylo nods. He strips off his overshirt, leaving him with bare arms and a peek at the center swath of his chest. Rey clears her throat and steps back, giving him sufficient room to practice a few forms of his own.

Pale but well muscled arms flexing. Glints of rising sweat catching the dawn's rays. An uncomfortably intrigued feeling flutters about her, dancing across her limbs as if searching for a place to settle and flourish.

"Breakfast?" she offers quickly. "I, um, we don't have much, but I saw some Widstoe berries near our boulder. I'll pick some for us to have with the dried meal and then take Dala over and see if she likes them too."

A throaty grunt as Kylo attempts- and completes- a particularly acrobatic flip using the staff as a brace. Rey turns, rapidly scurrying away back to where they spread out their camp.

* * *

"So it truly wasn't the Resistance that came for you last night then?"

Rey regards the deep maroon tones of the assassins shawl and robes that she's now incorporated into her outfit. It wasn't a shade she would think for the Resistance to wear, but she could be wrong.

The arm that Kylo has wrapped around her waist strums its fingers and Rey has to fight back the urge to giggle and let on to one a weakness.

"You tell me, little traitor."

He pulls her closer, using their shares nearness to take the edge off the elbow Rey tries to send into his stomach.

"Oh for the gods, Kylo! Enough of that! No, I don't bloody well think it was the Resistance, but who, then? You said you had your suspicions?"

The fingers strum again and that feeling starts to come back until Rey holds her breath long enough to suffocate it.

"Well then," he says," if I'm to guess I'd think the top candidate would be the General."

Rey blinks. Sands caught on the mid-morning wind sting her eyes until she adjusts the edges of her veil.

"Who?"

"General Hux. You've met him, haven't you? Tall, redhead, and with a constant expression of having sat on a nail that was sticking out at just the right angle to get him where it would hurt the most?"

Rey hasn't a clue what that last part means, but she nods. That awful redheaded man. First he had leered at her and then she had seen him… with one of the other wives… in the back room…

"It had been horrible," she answers. "What a terrible man, but you surely don't suspect him of wishing you dead? Do you?"

Kylo shrugs, the coarse fabric of his own robes rubbing against the parts of her back where her Wives Dress were exposed.

"Easily. And why not? He's hardly been subtle about wanting me out of the way. Though, to be fair to him, he may be in the first place on my list but it's hardly without competition."

Rey looks over at him. Her husband looks quite a sight, with most of his fair face concealed in red fabric or his own black cowl.

"Go on," she says.

"Well, other than your Resistance, the Alderaan throne has enemies a plenty. If the word got out that I was out here on my own, then it's well in possibility that some of them might have tried to make a play for me. Or perhaps Nevan."

Rey's eyes widen. Kylo clicks his tongue, urging Amidala forward along the narrow edge of the mountain they were slowly progressing along. By the end of today they should be nearly out of these hills though Rey would like them to linger in their protection overnight before beginning with the dried plains.

"Nevan. Gods. I'm sick of that woman and I barely know her. But to send assassins to you? What would she possibly have to gain from it?"

Kylo sighs, the fabric covering his lower face puffing out with the motion. It's hard to read his expression when so much of his face is hidden as it is now.

"Gain? Could be nothing or it could be a lot. That would depend on how she's been maneuvering herself throughout the court. I never did trust Nevan. I liked her, or perhaps well enough, but that never extended so far as to say that I trusted her."

Rey frowns. She'd never liked Nevan. The feeling had clearly been mutual. But something about the past tense way that Kylo spoke of her was rather jarring.

"Will you punish her then?" she asks timidly. "Punish her or… or have her killed? Is that what you mean by this?"

Kylo blinks and he doesn't look at her when he answers.

"Well, if I find out that she was behind last night yes, surely. Likely though I'll never know for sure. Otherwise I'll simply have to watch her more closely. Hux though," he pulls on the reins, drawing Dala to a stop, "Hux I might have to look a lot less for an excuse to get rid of. If sending him to the gallows would be, hmmm, _problematic_ , then I do think his presence might well be needed far overseas for a very long time."

Kylo extends his palm to her, opening and closing his fist to draw her attention. Rey blinks for a moment before realizing he wants her to take it. It feels slightly strange to her to hold his hand like this now when it's just the two of them, like it's a gesture more suited for when they're on display rather than actual affection. She clicks her tongue, prompts Dala to start walking again, but Kylo stop her. Still holding the reins with one hand and her palm entwined with his own in the other, he makes a show of looking behind her at her shoulderblades.

"No, nothing yet," he says.

What? What in the gods is he-

"Kylo-"

"No knife there. Yet. But I'll keep you posted if there's a sudden change."

How the kark can he joke about that so soon? They almost _d_ _ied_.

Or rather he, the Crown Prince of Alderaan, almost died since Rey rather seemed like an obstacle to the assassins. But, had they succeeded in their mission, her own fate would be highly doubtful.

"Oh whatever you sod-head, let's hurry up with it."

This time she takes the reins, setting a slow and careful pace along the rough trail winding up the growing hills.

* * *

This western side of the mountains was drier than the other.

That's why Rey had chosen her old home's location on the eastern slope. That, and it's own private spring which was close to a necessity. It had been her little grassy, overgrown piece of heaven. Here, in contrast where they were trekking now, was all bare rocks and windswept dirt. A distant row of pine trees offered the hope of higher elevations, but getting to them would take the better part of the morning.

Amidala was unhappy but a plodder. They would stop to rest their horse- and themselves- in the increasingly scattered dollops of shade. Then it was more riding or, if the steepness of the slopes required it, walking alongside.

She and Kylo didn't speak much, though unusually it was not due to an ill mood or a recent row. Rather they were both tired and it was too dry and dusty to try and get the words out muffled through their face shawls.

Only a few more kilometers of these hills and then Rey reckons they'll be out in the dust plain. She didn't want to say it but every step closer to that line brought a growing sense of unease about how ill prepared they were.

They had at best a few day's water with them. A few days for _them_ , but not Dala. Horses were a luxurious responsibility that Rey could never have dreamed of or wanted when she lived out here. Dala was going to be a problem, but far from their only one. All the more things to keep her mind busy and her tired senses keen.

Another few hours pass before they come to rest at the base of an old and rather sickly looking desert ash. Kylo gets off Dala to brush flies off her face and Rey stays up high on her perch to regard the changing direction of the shadows. It must be well past noon now and they had more or less been going non-stop. She would like to make camp early while they were still in these foothills, but finding the right spot was a multi-faceted ambition.

"When was the last time you were out here?"

Kylo offers her a canteen and Rey hesitates then accepts it, pulling down her veil and parting hr lips with an audibly dry smack.

"I'm not sure," she says after taking a long and blissful drink. "Many many years ago. I think I might have been twelve or so? One time I came this way just to see what was here and it turned out there was very little. Nothing to scavenge or be worth my time."

She offers Kylo the canteen back and he corks it and tucks it away into one of the saddlebags. He excuses himself for a moment, turning his back and taking a few steps off to the side of the path. Rey pets Dala's hair and braids a lock of it while she waits for him to return.

There was something else playing tricks at her mind now. She hadn't mentioned to him the other part of why she almost never came out here. In addition to have few resources worth her time, it was not unheard of for bandits to lay low in these hills. Bandits who absolutely would target two lonesome, unprepared strangers out here on their very fine steed.

Them and the animals. Rey was confident the bandits she could handle. She knew what to expect and what places they'd likely be to ambush. The desert beasties she'd heard of, however? Oh, there were _things_ out here. Wolves and Akk Dogs and Acklays though the latter she'd only ever been told of, never even seen from afar. If that all wasn't bad enough, the dust plains ahead offered even more uncertainty.

"Rey?"

Kylo's voice comes from further behind her. She'd been too lost in her own private worries to realize he'd gone for a stroll.

"What is it?" she calls out, not immediately seeing him. "Where are you?"

"Down here in this ditch by the big rocks. Tie up Amidala and come here, I found something."

Found something? Well that holds a tone of ominousness to it, does it?

Rey secures their horse and takes her staff, giving their immediate surroundings a skeptical glare before heading part way down the slope to where she sees her husband's head bopping about between a descending slope of boulders.

"Here you go," Kylo hands her the shoe in his hands. "Too old to be of any good but maybe the laces? We can use it for something around camp I'm sure."

Rey frowns. The boot was old, filled with dusty pebbles, and shouldn't be out here.

"Shoes are too valuable," she comments.

Comments to no one because Kylo's already heading off again, climbing his way further down the sloping ditch.

"I told you, Rey, we don't need money. I've got plenty hidden away with us. Not that there's anyone to sell it too anyhow."

Selling it wasn't what she'd meant. More that it wasn't likely to be the nothing-omen Kylo had disregarded it as.

"What about this?"

Kylo, now a good thirty meters ahead of her, holds something up in the sun for hr to see. It glints and Rey frowns, squinting against the light at the metallic object.

"It's a cooking pot," he calls out.

Rey sighs and starts heading down to join him. Now _that_ they might use, especially if it still holds water.

And it does. Old, dirty, and dusty but Rey can fashion a lid out of a piece of their canvas ground cloth and they could carry water in it.

"Looks like the other shoe's down there," Kylo says. "Guess someone came by our way too a long time ago. Maybe on camel and this lot must have fallen out of their packs without them noticing."

"No."

No, that wouldn't happen. The camel theory could well be, but desert caravan's were as precious with their belongings as Rey had ever known.

"I don't like this."

She'd meant it as a warning but Kylo turns and heads further down again, working his way across the rocky slope to where the twin of the first boot lay half buried.

"A story of foul play from years gone by then?" he calls back. "Two riders, one pushed to his death along with his favorite pot and what's this?"

An old cloth sack. No, an old leather sack. Empty but useful perhaps. Rey ties it to her belt then starts to take the other shoe before dropping it immediately.

There were teeth marks on it. The whole back half of it was all chewed up, and by something quite large at that.

Kylo looks down, poking at the boot with his own toe until Rey smacks him in the chest to stop him.

"Kylo, don't be- I told you I don't like this. Let's get out of here. I don't like it."

He snorts and bends to pull out the laces before Rey smacks at him again.

"Rey," he straightens with a sigh, "some scavenger you are. I'm sticking with my foul play theory. Someone got the old heave ho, probably was pushed right off his horse and broke his neck on impact. Then got chewed on. Let's go on a little more and look if there's anything else he'd left us. C'mon."

Now _that_ idea Rey likes even less. He's probably right, though. Everything out here is at least from a year ago if not longer. And Acklays don't hunt in the middle of the day. Bandits do, but not those hellish sounding creatures.

It's a pretty slim consolation, though. Logic, that is.

Rey grips her staff tightly in one hand and lets Kylo take the other as he chivalrously helps her further down the boulder path.

* * *

The cave had been a gruesome sight.

Not because the killings in it were fresh, but that there were so many of them. The remains of dozens of humas- possibly even more though Rey couldn't stomach the thought of counting- were strewn about the entrance to the tunnel. Surely there were more inside, but neither Rey nor Kylo could think of a single solitary reason to go poking about in the dark.

"So… an Acklay nest eh?"

Kylo picks up a dented and gnawed on helmet, turns it over, then grimaces and quickly puts it back down. Rey swallows, feeling her meager breakfast sitting high up in her throat.

"It must be from years ago," she whispers. "This trail we were on used to be a shortcut on one of the old trade routes, if I remember it right. Then it suddenly stopped being taken."

"And now for reasons that have become obvious."

Kylo toes at a pile of pristine white bones. He kneels and starts to poke at them and Rey turns away.

"Let's go back. I want to leave."

"Do we need this?"

He draws out from the pile a dusty piece of leather. Some sort of item of clothing. Rey's first instinct is to say no, but-

"D-Does it have holes?"

He turns it over.

"I don't think so. Water bag, then? You said we needed more than we have."

Rey nods stiffly and takes a step towards the cave entrance. Stealing from the dead was something all scavengers had to do at one point in their lives, but Rey had rather hoped such terribleness was now behind her.

On their way out a glint of light catches Rey's eye. The glittering of a ring, gold and with a small jewel. She hadn't noticed it before but it reflects back at her now with a spellbinding brilliance. It probably isn't worth so terribly much, simple and small like that, but her old self would have found such a catch nearly irresistible.

Except that it's still attached to the bones of its owner. Rey frowns at it, torn between wanting to leave it resting in peace and yet finding herself unable to.

"Rey?"

A hand on her elbow and Rey looks up, too mesmerized by the ring to remember that she had crouched over it.

"I should like it."

Kylo raises an eyebrow.

"It's _tiny_. Hardly even fit for a maid, let alone a-"

He visibly swallows before correcting himself.

"Would you like me to take it for you?" he asks.

Rey shakes her head, standing up and forcing herself to turn away.

"No. I don't need it anymore."

The words come out more wispy than she'd intended. Rey quickly rushes past her confused looking husband and leaves.

* * *

Evening clouds moved in quickly, bringing about an early nightfall.

Rey had tucked them away in a narrow little corridor between two towering rock walls. It was a strategic position that offered them excellent protection on nearly all sides.

And it had been terribly uncomfortable until she had put her husband to work and sent him out to bring back all the armfuls of pine needles or dried grass he could carry.

Dala nuzzles her temple as she starts to prepare dinner, startling Rey who scares the poor beast with her sudden cry and flinch.

"Um, sorry," she offers, stretching out a hand.

The horse regards her distrustfully before going back to her own pile of grass to munch on.

Kylo had wanted a fire that night. Rey had thought long and hard about it but ultimately nixed the idea. A fire would do much to calm her jittery nerves and ward away the beasties that would surely be occupying her mind tonight, but the scent of it could also be smelled for miles. If someone- some human- was out here looking for them, it was too great of a risk.

"I think it's going to be a long, cold night," she tells Kylo when he returns.

Her husband huffs, still feeling a little sour about the whole lack of a fire necessity. He takes his plate of dinner, such as the simple camping fare is, and frowns as he picks at it.

"There was a spring up there," he tells her.

Rey looks up from the prickly bed nest she's forming. Kylo points at the steep hillside opposite of the entrance to their nook.

"We should- big enough to fill our bottles?"

Bottles and flasks and the admittedly creepy watersleeve she fashioned from the leather waistcoat they'd scavenged.

"Big enough to wash up in, if not properly bathe."

There's a tone of spoiled little boy edging to his voice and Rey smiles despite herself. Her husband, prick that he is, had gone less than twenty-four hours without his nightly bathing and already he was getting fussy about it.

Rey wasn't sure which thought she enjoyed more: cleaning her own stinky feet and other parts off, or introducing the Crown Prince to the concept of _sand bathing_ once they get into the further desert wastes.

"What are you smiling about?"

Kylo's voice has a suspicious tone, and his eyes narrow when Rey breaks out into a full-on grin.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. You go first. Wash yourself, high Prince, and I'll have camp all ready for you when you return."

Kylo's kiss to her forehead is warm and sweet.

"What a good Wifey you are." His hand lingers on the back of her head until she swats him away. "But why waste the precious water? It would be more resourceful for us to share in the spring's abundance then to-"

Rey shoves the empty water flasks right into his unprotected stomach and lower area with more strength than strictly necessary. He makes an offended sounded 'oof' and Rey gives him her biggest, brightest smile.

"Fill those up while you're over there, will you _sweetie_?"

They hadn't discussed pet names. Rey didn't like them on principle, and judging by her husband's pouty frown, he didn't like _that_ one in practice.

Still, he leaves with only a cloud of negativity. Rey hums to herself as she makes their lumpy and thin bedroll as soft as she can.

* * *

"We have to cuddle."

"I know."

"It's so karking cold. That's why we have to cuddle."

"I know."

"Maybe I should have listened to you and started a fire."

"Yup."

"But it wasn't the right choice. So now we're freezing our asses off and we have to cuddle. But it will be _just_ cuddling, Kylo."

" _I know."_

Kylo smelled clean. And nice. His arms as he settled in behind her and wrapped her up tight smelled nice. Rey wasn't sure that he thought th same about her since she'd opted to save their small little patty of soap for tougher times, but she couldn't deny that he made for an inviting bed warmer.

A few minutes of peaceful silence stretch by. In the distance are muted sounds of life. Wind and nighttime birds and perhaps larger animals such as a deer. No hint of an Acklay beast or assassin, though Rey would be hard pressed to say which one she thought deadlier.

Behind her Kylo swallows, th sound of it only audible because of how close her ear was to him. He perhaps was having a sleepless night as well, then?

She turns her head to look at him over her shoulder and his bright eyes glitter back at her, a sly smile growing on his face as he meets her gaze.

'Your cheeks are pinking, Wife."

His hands roam, stroking along her sides. Rey can't repress her shiver. This was the closest physically that they'd ever slept, but… but it was a necessity.

"It's dark out, Your Highness. You can't possibly see."

Near to them Dala wuffles, either enjoying the how her riders were putting on or, more likely, oblivious to it entirely.

"Ah, my darling, but I know you are. You always blush when I think about you in such ways as I am now."

His hand on her hip pauses then pulls, beginning to rotate her around to face him. After a moment's silent deliberation, Rey lets him.

"And what thoughts exactly are you having now, dear Prince? Or dare I not ask?"

His laugh breezes over her face, proving to Rey the truth of his earlier prediction.

"Of how incredibly lucky I am that fate brought us together. Or perhaps it was _your uncle_ through his machinations. But I'm a lucky man nonetheless to have a woman such as you here in my arms tonight, freezing with me up on a mountain pass atop a bed of needles."

Rey had naturally been bracing herself for a far cruder response, and now the candidness of his words left hr bereft of a proper answer.

When his hand reaches up to stroke her face Rey quickly catches it in her own and draws it back under the covers.

"You-you're disturbing our nest. Don't let the warm air out of our blanket."

He twines his fingers with her, holding her hand pinned between their chests.

"Ah, I see. You're cold. That's why you're shaking slightly. Would you like me to warm you up then?"

A sock-covered foot snakes over her leg, the toes of it playing with the back of her heel. Rey squeaks and ducks her head under the cover.

"Kylo!" her voice comes muted. "I _will_ kick you where you won't like it."

The curious foot stops but the weight of his leg over her own lingers.

"I don't doubt it." Rey shivers again as his lips tickle the top of her head. "But I do mean it, Rey. Thank you."

he lets go of her hand under the covers and turns onto his back, leaving Rey curled around herself against his side. She waits for him to continue but, when he doesn't, she wriggles her head free from the covers.

"Kylo." soft voice seems called for, but she leaves a cautious edge to it just in case. "Manners I believe would dictate I say 'you're welcome' right now, but that's only if I know and agree with what you're thanking me for."

"Hmmmm..."

He sounds sleepy. Rey fights back a yawn of her own, her body more tired than her endlessly spinning mind.

"For being here with me. None of my other wives would come with me for this, not a one of them. I have few friends either, or at least no true ones I would trust at this moment. But you're here, and I don't have to go on this journey alone. Thank you."

Rey squirms. Kylo falls still. The only sounds now are the soft noises that occasionally come from Amidala as she sleeps.

"I- I think I like you better when you're a letch, Your Highness."

She doesn't look up to see if he's smiling or seems hurt by her words. The beating of his heart so close to her is a steady, soothing thing that almost makes her forget how karking uncomfortable their itchy, prickly bedroll really is right now.

"Rey," his voice brings her heavy eyes open halfway. "You know I'm going to remember you said that tomorrow, right?"

She grunts. Walked right into that one, didn't she?

He grunts back. Then his head turns, his forehead lightly skimming her own.

"What time does dawn come, Rey?"

Kylo's nose brushes the tip of her own and Rey almost sighs as sleep beckons closer.

"Early," she answers. "Very early this time of year."

His hands draw her closer, positioning her head to come to rest on his chest.

"Then let's get up before it, no matter what the hour. Throw our gear on Dala and take off before the first beam of light breaks from the eastern horizon."

 _Sounds like a plan._

Rey mumbles it into his shirt and gives in, letting sleep offer her just a few hours of peace before their next day of journey.

* * *

author's note:

Hope you liked this chapter! It was a bit of a change of pace then the hotter romance and political drama of some of the earlier chapters, but I've been wanting to take this story in more of an adventure-some direction. Lots of fun things (or maybe not so fun for our duo!) coming up in the future so I hope you'll all check it out when I get the next chapter up! :D

ps. Sorry but I had to name the horse Amidala. Growing up my grandpa had a farm with a horse named Amidala so… sorry Padme, you're the best?

* * *

Comment replies:

Anoha – Well you've probably guessed right than Nevan will make herself known again before this story's up! For now though our Duo have a lot of other problems as you'll come to see soon!

Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc – In this next chapter both Kylo and Rey have some theories about the assassins, though first things first is making it across the desert. All will be revealed in time though, I promise! Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit – Oh it's working! All their adventures are bringing them closer already, which they needed because they started off on such rough footing didn't they? Thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen – I'm glad you liked this chapter! Fight scenes are the worst but I hope this one came out okay. Thanks for commenting!

Pobrediabla – Sorry the last chapter was a little short, time's not been on my side this summer. Hopefully this next one will make up for it! As for the next few chapters, heh… let's just say the desert is a hot place, lol

Twiligoddess – Glad you came back to check out this story! Don't worry, I'm definitly going to finish it, even if it takes me a very long time! Thanks so much for commenting!


	20. A Change of Fate

Author's note: Written on a rainy Sunday. Edited in haste because I needed to charge my laptop battery off my car battery which needs to be run a while since it's rainy and my solar panels aren't PNW friendly ;)

Chapter Summary: Where Kylo and Rey take flight, start a fight, then Rey accidentally starts rounding the bases.

* * *

The wolves had forced them to make a decision: stay and fight and possibly face something- or _someone_ \- even worse… or join the caravan.

The caravan that had coated them in dust at noon. The howls had started while the moon was high but setting. The hours in between had been-

"It's over now, darling. You don't have to squeeze me so tight. Unless you want to."

The procession of families and traders and hired guns had originated from the kingdom far to the east, where they had their own sense of customs. For them it was considered unseemly for Rey to ride in front of her husband rather than the other way around. Ostensibly it was so he could protect her better, though Rey had her own unspoken theories about he issue. Regardless, it meant that Kylo was both a useful sun-shield against the afternoon glare, but she also couldn't really see around his massive bulk which was greatly annoying.

"Where do you think they're leading us?"

She first says in quietly, nearly in a whisper, then has to repeat in a low shout to be heard over the supply cart of the caravan which was overtaking them in a cacophony of rattling pots.

"Wherever they want to go, I guess. Probably to the only water in this whole dustlands."

Kylo shrugs and Rey feels the rough fabric of his tunic rasp again her cheek which she'd had pressed against his shoulder blades.

"We're going to be with them for a few days," he continues, "so let's try and make the best of it, even if they're probably taking us off course."

Her husband being the voice of optimism and positive thoughts? Maybe facing the sun was getting to him. Another driver pushes ahead of them. This time it was a lone man on a horse. He was covered from head to toe with only a thin slit of skin exposed around his eyes. Even though he didn't give either of them so much as a second's glance, Rey cuddles a little closer to Kylo, holding on tighter still.

"You can rest on me if you want to," Kylo's voice is a gravelly rumble and she hears him click his tongue to prompt Dala to move a little faster. "You must be exhausted from last night. I don't think either one of us got more than a few winks of sleep."

That statement draws a few turned heads from the open-air chariot they're now passing. Kylo had told the caravan that they were newlyweds out on honeymoon. Of all the things- On _honeymoon_? Stranded in the middle of the desert flatlands, frantically waving their arms to bring the whole damned procession to a stop.

Whatever the group had thought about them was probably better than the truth. Kylo had bought their way in, even paying extra to secure the use of their own private tent tonight. Rey wished he hadn't, or at least had consulted with her before making such a bold display of wealth.

"Do you think we'll sleep any better tonight?" she asks.

She dips her face lower, pressing it snugly against his spine to keep it out of the changing angle of the sun.

"Still nervous?"

Rey closes her eyes. She's not tired. Wired. Maybe she's tired.

She nods, trusting him to feel that for way of answer.

Kylo reaches back, an awkward movement with the angles involved and still needing to keep an hand on Dala's reins. His hand blindly finds her own and squeezes. For the next hour they ride in silence.

* * *

Their bed the night before had been a sticky, itchy, prickly mess. And she'd had to cuddle her husband.

Those two facts alone has made the first half of the night sleep free. At some point, Kylo had started to softly snore. Then, shortly thereafter, Dala has joined him, wuffling under her breath in a strange, horsey sort of way that Rey was still unfamiliar with.

She had been wide awake. A pine cone was digging into her back but removing it would have involved getting up, extracting herself from the warm arms around her, and disturbing the careful pile of leaves and bedding they had wrapped themselves up in.

So the pine cone had stayed, serving as a nearly literal thorn in her side. The moon drifted. The shadows shifted. Sleep never graced.

It was her muddled, frustrated state of awareness that might have saved them all.

Rey had been so afraid of an Acklay that she'd forgotten all about the far more likely adversary of these hills: their infamous wolf population. These beasts were big and fast and so very bold. They didn't even try to sneak up on them.

Instead, the howls had began at a near distance. Rey's half-lidded eyes had popper open immediately. She'd held her breather after the first call sounded. Her hearing trained, trying to pick up on both the location the haunting noise had come from and if it would happen again.

Kylo had snored. Dala had snuffled. Oblivious. Oblivious and making Rey feel irrationally angry because her companion's noised had drowned out the second cry and the vital information it had held.

Then the third ad come from far too close near the entrance to their rocky inlet.

"GET OUT!"

It was all Rey could think of to shout- truthfully, she didn't really think at all- then she was on her feet in an instant. Or tried to be, though the tangle of obstructions caused her to come crashing back down, literally sitting on her abruptly awakened husband's chest.

"Re-"

The howl was right next to them. Dala had gone from restful to full-on panic. She reared up just as Rey and Kylo disentangled themselves and lumbered to their feet.

There were three dark shapes. Two by Dala and one of them slinking along the edges of their space right toward them. More howling in the distance and she and Kylo shared a look for just a single second before leaping into action.

Her husband handled Dala. He was armed with a staff of his own, one that they had fashioned that very evening before.

Rey slammed her own quarterstaff flat again the broad side of her approaching shadow. The animal huffed. It was angry. It wasn't hurt at all.

Dala reared up again and Kylo gave a shout, calling for her. Rey and her wolf circled each other. This was bad, This was- If it had been daytime- she's faced _worse_ so-

"For the love of the gods, Rey, jump on!"

Kylo was riding bareback on Dala, her saddle and an indeterminable bundle of their items wadded up in his arms. He didn't have to tell Rey twice and she leaped, all but scrambling up the poor, panicking animals side just as the wolf behind her tried to nip at her heels. A dim shape was limping away looking very throughly kicked but Rey deliberately didn't look to close.

And then they were off. Dala ran a a breakneck pace, and it took of all of Rey's strength to hold on and not get kicked right off her. The pack of wolves followed for a ways and every time they would lose a piece of their equipment Kylo would curse right into her ear.

When they finally stopped it was just starting to turn dawn and Rey's legs were shaking so badly she collapsed right into the dirt. Dala was a mess, still frightened and frantic. Kylo had dropped everything they'd had left for her to sort while he tried to attend to and sooth the panicked animal.

What he had grabbed, which made sense given the locality, had mostly been equipment for Amidala. Good for their horse since Rey was pretty sure riding on her like that was strictly a life and death situation only event. But it meant they were critically short on food, water, and clothes for themselves.

"Kylo, we're really in trouble here."

"I know. They're coming back. Don't get scared or Dala will feel it, but I saw the pack of them crest that hill behind us."

Rey's eyes widened. This time the wolves were being quiet, having already lost their first go at their meal they weren't taken any chances this time. Rey didn't see them, but now that Kylo had said it she could almost feel them out there drawing closer.

"What-"

"Get her bridle on. I've got the blanked and saddle on close enough. Dala can outrun them if we have to but I don't know how for how long."

Another exodus, this time only slightly less frantic than before. Try as she might, Rey's own fears seemed to reflect back in their horse, and Dala took off running just as soon as they were both back on her.

The next few hours had gone on in that same way: a miserable, nerve-wracking, paranoid pace. Sometimes they saw the wolves, sometimes it was quiet. Rey was also aware that they were making quite the trail behind them. If anyone was tracking they were only making their job all the easier.

The heat of the day rose quickly, and it wasn't too much longer until they _had_ to stop, at least for Dala's sake.

There was no water where they were. Their poor horse had been pushing herself all night and morning, and now they only had a canteen left to split among themselves. The sickly, scrabbly tree they came to rest under was all the shade in this cracked and dust filled basin they had found themselves in.

"At least the wolves have given up in this damned heat," Kylo comments, petting Dala's nose until she horse flicks her head away.

"They may come back tonight."

Rey took another sip from their canteen, but she made it a little one. Then she caps it and holds her breath until her ears start to ring.

"Rey?"

His hand falls to her shoulder. She swallows and fights the urge to hold onto it.

"Kylo, we're really in trouble her."

She didn't know this part of the desert. She didn't know it to begin with, but now even less after they had basically ran away without any real sense of direction. They were lost now, and these dust plains were proving to be even worse than she'd braced herself for.

"We'll be alright, Rey. I have plenty of money with us."

Rey frowned at him, disbelief rolling through her and finally taking place of fear at center stage in her mind.

"Money? _Money_? That's your answer then, is it?"

She stood up then, pointedly ignoring the hand extended to help. That was just so like her husband, wasn't it? Foolish little _prat_.

"Just what sort of money do you have, Kylo?"

Behind her Dala huffed, not liking the looming argument.

Kylo for his own seemed more confused than anything. Which, in turn, made Rey even more annoyed with him.

"What sort of money? Gold coins, of course. And I have plenty of them so you needn't worry."

"Gold. Right. Can we drink your gold? Can she?"

Rey gestures with a thumb over her shoulder and Dala snorts in agreement.

Kylo pauses, outnumbered, and then his shoulders slump.

"Oh be reasonable, Rey. Someone will come along. You said yourself that this area is part of a trade route. We'll just stop them and barter our way-"

"What if there's no one? Never make assumptions in the desert, Kylo. _Never_. Or what they're assassins? What would we do then?"

The tight-lipped expression that comes next tells Rey that, no, he really hadn't considered that possibility.

"Then we'll- well, we'll take care of them and surely they'll have water with them. Problem solved."

Rey almost snarls. What kind of a clueless idiot did she marry? She stomps her foot instead, and darned if Dala doesn't do the same gesture right behind her.

"Do you seriously, genuinely think," she begins, stomping over to glare up at him, "in that tiny, simple-minded, thick-skulled little brain of yours that some- some- some random desert caravan will just come across this one random patch of desert out here in the middle of nowhere and _poof!_ we'll be magically saved?"

Kylo scratches his chin, pretending to nod thoughtfully. Then he spins his finger in a circle, and Rey has an urge to kick him in his shin.

"Turn around," he says, and when she doesn't he spins her himself.

There it was in the distance: a long, thin black line of movement. The _far_ distance, but coming closer at an angle. They'd have to ride quick to catch them, but the cocky look on her husband's face told her he'd been watching them for a while.

"How long have you bloody well known they were there?"

Rey crosses her arms tightly around her chest. Amidala makes a 'whumph' sound, her head sagging slightly in the heat.

"Oh, right around the time you called me a _foolish little prat._ "

Rey… Rey hadn't realized that she'd said that part out loud. Well _good_. He deserves it.

"Come Rey," his hands loop around her shoulders and make an admirable effort to not get aggressively shrugged off. "Our caravan awaits."

She pouts. Kylo smiles. Dala stays silent.

"There will be no living with you after this," she finally mutters, giving in and picking up their tiny bundle of items.

"There never was to begin with, my darling."

He takes the bundle from her, secures it to Dala's mostly-empty saddle bags, and offers Rey a hand to be ignored.

* * *

The caravan had pulled into the oasis well after dark.

Rey had actually been asleep when Kylo had gently jostled her awake with the good news. They had set up their rented tent by torchlight while a young boy of eight or so had been tasked with setting down Amidala for the night. Rey had been a little disagreeable with that, and she quickly busied herself in the luxury of the caravan's bathing tent. There were two of them, acutely, one for the men and a smaller for the few women who were part or the congregation.

Inside it was a far cry from the large and sumptuous bathrooms of the Harem back at the palace. Rather, the little cloth shack had four walls, a partially open roof, and Rey was provided with a steaming bucket and a rag. After a few gentle implores she managed to convince one o the other bathers to cut off a piece of her bar of soap to share.

"Your husband's a very handsome man, Miss. You're lucky to be wedded to one who can provide for you like this."

The naked woman sponging herself off next to Rey was slightly pudgy, well past the first flush of youth, and with a sly look Rey distrusted in an instant. Or perhaps she was being unfair since nearly everything about the caravan she'd distrusted at sight without any real reason to.

"Thank you," Rey replies, measuring her words carefully. "We were both lucky to see your group. It was my husband who spotted you first, in fact."

The woman makes a hum. She looks back over her shoulder at her equally naked companion who was soaking her feet in the bucket while smoking from some sort of strange looking pipe. A bitterly acrid smell soon filled the tent and made Rey's eyes water.

"Lucky thing indeed," the first woman says after her companion inhales, blinks, and swoons. "And finding us the same day that a pack of wolves tore apart your honeymoon camp? Fancy that. If I were a gambling woman I'd take you by my side into the betting tent and pray to the gods a pip of your luck would wear off on me. Not that you would need the money, of course."

Rey frowned. Just what in the hell was she supposed to say to that? Not that she completely blamed the woman for her roundabout suspicions. Rey wouldn't have believed her own story if she was someone else, even though it had been a largely truthful of the last twenty-four hours.

She stays silent then, hurrying up with bathing herself then half-faking a coughing fit as the other companion- the one who had given her the piece of soap- takes another quaff from her odious pipe and sends Rey forth into the night air.

* * *

"It could have been bigger. Should have been bigger, for the price I paid."

Kylo was whining about their accommodation he'd rented for the next few nights. Rey busies herself with adjusting their new pile of bedding- bought along with a few necessary pieces of clothes- and doesn't given an answer.

The tent was fine, truly. Granted it was small, but still big enough they could stand up in it. The canvas walls were thick and some old, worn looking grass mats had appeared so they wouldn't have to stand on the dusty ground.

"I don't trust these people," he says, standing by the exit flap and peering out.

Rey looks up then. That was supposed to be her line, wasn't it?

"No?" she asks, "why not?"

He's really peering at something out there. Rey draws the robe over her newly purchased nightgown tighter and pads over to join him, her feet rasping softly against the woven grass.

"That little boy," Kylo answers. "The stable hand. Did he remind you of someone?"

Rey has to stand on her tip toes to see what he's staring at. The stables. Or it wasn't a proper stables, but the roped off area where all the caravan's horses were kept for night. There were quite a few of them in the cramped space and Rey hoped that Dala was more friendly to strangers than either of her two riders.

"Desmond?" she answers. "The desert rat who sold us out to the assassins?"

She'd actually forgotten his name until that moment, but now staring at the small child running about under the moonlight it dawned on her just how much the two really did look similar. Perhaps even related?

"Aye, that's the one." Kylo seals the the entrance closed, snapping each of its buttons firmly into place. "And do you know what happened when I went to check in on Dala before bed? The boy asked me for a pip of gold. Said he 'wanted to buy a pipeful'. At his age and after I'd already paid for her boarding?"

An odd sort of jitteriness starts to settle in Rey's stomach. They had joined this caravan out of desperation but…

"Kylo-" she sucks in a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I don't like the way you're throwing money around. It's brash. We didn't need all this. We could have slept under the stars and just paid for water for Dala and our place in line. You've drawn an awful lot of attention to us today."

Kylo had sat down on the edge of their folding cot. He pauses with unlacing his boot to give her a pointed look.

"Our money's safe on me, Rey. No assassins or wolves or- or uncertain desert dwellers will b able to take it from me."

There were moments when Rey found her husband's self-assurance to be an asset. This was not one of those times.

"I would- I would like for you to give it to me, Kylo. The money. I think that, since I'm the one who knows this desert and its ways best, that I should be in charge of it."

A sound argument? There was a good logic behind it, plus the two women who'd had the most interest in their money had already seen her buck naked and knew bloody well she didn't have it on her. Then.

Kylo starts working on freeing himself from his other boot. Clearly stalling for time. When he finishes though he stands and sidles over to Rey, his movements holding all the predatory sleekness of a cat approaching its prey.

The jittery feeling in Rey's stomach starts to change until she mentally quashes it.

"So… you want our money, Rey? You want to _hold_ on to it?"

He reaches out to play with the tie to her dressing gown and is immediately slapped away.

"Kylo."

"Rey."

He leans in closer and Rey could slap him right now. H's so- just- she doesn't' even know the words for him!

"You're trying to rile me up, aren't you?"

A private tent was a bad idea. They should have been out under the stars and in full view of everyone and maybe that would keep her husband's incessant flirtation at bay. Maybe.

"Always, darling wife, but now I have a bargain for you: you find the gold, and it's yours to do with as you will."

The look in his eyes is too wicked to not guess what he means.

"You have it on you, don't you? You have it somewhere in-" Rey gestures in circles around the broad space of his chest.

His smile grows. Rey feels her cheeks burning even if she can't imagine exactly why.

"You want a hint?"

He leans in so close to her that his lips ghost the words against the top of her head. It makes all her hairs stand on end. Rey turns from him quickly, surprised to find her knees slightly weak from his closeness. SH glares at the corner of the room then with her back to him.

"Fine then, husband, give me your bloody hint."

Or he could just hand her the gold like a gentleman, but Rey was becoming quite sure that was not a word to ever apply to the infuriating man she was married to.

"I keep it at the place you fear the most, my dearly sweet virginal wife."

Rey's eyes bug. He doesn't mean-

Well the look he gives her over his shoulder could put a jackal to shame.

" _Kylo_!"

He turns away then, resting his hands on his hips and taken an exaggerated stance.

"Go on with it, Wife. Don't keep me in suspense. Go digging for your gold or let's call it a night and try to get a few hour's sleep for a change."

So he just expects her to give up then? As if- as if he could play her innocence against her like that. He always thinks he can have _that_ upper hand on her, doesn't he?

Fine then. _Fine_.

Rey tries not to think of anything. Tries not to think of how she's suddenly so aware of the unfamiliar fabric against her skin or the rough floor under her bare feet. Or how Kylo huffs softly when she stands behind him, practically embracing him as her hands delicately pat at his sides. She can't do this facing him. Not at all.

"Lift your arms," she tells him.

She doesn't think about the strange feeling his throaty chuckle brings her. Or the way that, when he obeys and stretches his arms out, it reminds her of just how huge he really is. Or how his chest is a hard block of muscle that she's only seen bare a few times, the last of which was when she had her head against it.

"Don't worry, Rey. I'm not ticklish. You can be bold."

The gold wasn't in the pockets of his pants. Nor did she think it was somehow strapped to his lg. Which left her with only one option. The place she feared the most? Gods.

Rey sucks in a breath and goes for it. She wraps her hands around the front of his pants and lightly squeezes, navigating uncertain terrain and trying to find the corner of something hard.

Then she glides her hands a bit lower and Kylo emits a strange, almost strangled sound. He stumbles away from her laughing, staring back at her in disbelief, and anyone listening in the nearby tents would _really_ misunderstand what happened.

Rey did, too, actually.

"Kylo? What did-"

"Gods Rey, you actually did it! I didn't think you would!"

He rests one arm against the only other piece of furniture in the tent- a hard wooden chair his boots were currently on- and watches her growing confusion with a positively beaming grin.

"Kylo? I was- I was looking for the gold?"

Her palm tingles. Embarrassment pure and strong rolls through her, but hadn't she just done what he'd set her up for? Why did he act so surprised?

"You grabbed my cock, Rey. Never in all my wildest dreams of you did I expect you actually _grab my cock._ "

Mortification almost bowls Rey over. She hadn't though that she'd actually- her husband must have an exceptionally large penis or she must have an exceptionally unclear grasp on anatomy, because what had happened had been a complete misunderstanding.

"Oh, Rey, come here."

Her face must give her away, traitorous thing. Kylo's mirth settles and he steps forward, beckoning her to his open arms.

"No!" she snaps, stumbling back. Kylo advances, hug extended, and it makes for a rather silly game of tag in such a small space.

"Rey. Thank you. I've waited forever for this. I will forever cherish this sweet memory of the first time my favorite wife grabbed my cock while trying to shake me down for money."

Rey grabs the nearest projectile item- in this case one o his boots since their run-chase ad made them swap places- and she hurls it at him with a force. Kylo dodges, his grin only growing, and the side wall makes a satisfying thump of impact.

It's only when she picks up the other one and holds in poised in the air that Kylo relents. He makes an open palm gesture and lets her scuttle towards the exit flap. It's pitch black out there without any of the now-shrinking moon and Rey isn't sure whether it's safer in here or out there.

"Rey, please don't go," he makes a scolded schoolboy pout that Rey doesn't believe for a second. "Let's just go to bed. You can sleep and I'll stay up tossing and turning at the vividness of your technique."

Now Rey's absolutely positive that he's mocking her. Nevan had… well, during their _lesson_ …

"You're impossible."

She shoves past him, shouldering him aside as sh stomps to the bed.

"I know, Rey."

"You told me it was hidden where I couldn't find it. You bloody well set me up and that wasn't nice of you."

She takes all the covers for herself. Her husband doesn't deserve even a single one.

When he sits next to her Rey side-eyes him and he tucks the fallen strap of her nightgown back into place. Then he picks up her hand and guides it unwillingly to his chest, right over his heart. Numerous hard, round little circles greet her fingertips.

"Rey, I said I kept it where you fear the most and I meant it."

Rey blinks.

"But..."

"Sewn to the inside of my shirt. I think I'll keep it on tonight, dear wife, unless you should be so swept away by feeling me up that you'd like me to take it off?"

Rey pulls her hand away and flops down, tucking herself in tight along the wall and putting her back to her husband. H blows out their candle and settles down next to her, his hands lightly tugging at the blanket until she sighs and lets him pull his share free.

A few breaths of odd silence fall before he leans over and kisses her forehead.

"Goodnight, dear wife, but may I ask just one question before we fall asleep?"

Rey shudders- literally shudders- to think about what could be coming next.

"Kylo-"

"Tell me, Rey," he lips find the shell of her ear and she almost jumps, "when you _grabbed_ me… what did you think?"

This time Rey does kick him in the shin. And throws an elbow towards where she imagines his stomach to be as well, just for good measure.

With a lightly pained laugh Kylo retreats, settling down and lightly rubbing her back in circles. It should be infuriating. It _is_ infuriating. But Rey finds herself quickly lulled to a much needed sleep despite everything else.

* * *

Author's Note:

Stupid well hung husband. Damn that man forever!

Comment replies:

Benfan1 – I'm glad you liked this update! Their relationship is developing slowly, but I think they're getting much closer now. Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc – haha, don't worry! Dala will be fine! Probably a lot better than our duo, lol! Thanks for commenting!

ToughSpirit - Sorry it took me a while to update but I'm glad you're sticking with this fic! Now in this next chapter some developments start to unfold so I hope you'll check it out!

Anoha – Poor Dala, lol, she's got the love birds on her back! That can't be easy to tolerate! Thanks for commenting!

Pobrediabla – Oh thank you so much! I'm really glad you like my writing! My novel… well, I DID write something, (it was a werewolf romance set in the desert!) but I ultimately decided not to publish it. I've got a few things working now though. Thanks so much for commenting!


	21. I wouldn't Know it if I felt It

author's note:

Today marks my 3 year anniversary for writing! *cue party bugle noise*

Yep, three years ago today I wrote my first story Bad Habits of a Vivid Imagination. Looking back I think it's actually really good and pretty funny, so if you haven't ever read it I'd love if you did!

Over these 3 years I think my writing has become… much much much faster. Infinitely faster. Not necessarily better in quality, but heck, now I just write for FUN. I kinda tortured myself with Bad Habits and it took me nearly a full month to write and edit! Now I sorta maybe just write whatever I want to and give it a quick editing pass and say 'cool, not getting paid, it's good enough!'

I'm currently traveling on HWY 50 aka. The Loneliest Road in Nevada (setting of another of my fics The Devil's Lucky Number) but if I can get a signal and my act together I'm going to try to update H2H and my writing guide I posted last year for my 2nd anniversary. It's gotten a little out of date with certain events and changes since then. Said updates probably won't happen today since it's 2pm and only now have I gotten the first weakass cell signal of the day, but I'll try for soon!

Okay, 'nuff of that, onto the story!

* * *

The first full day with the caravan had been mercifully without event.

Kylo? He'd been a good boy. Kept his mouth shut, was light but not too light with giving out tips, and turned down an invitation into the gambling circuit. No doubt the shrewd operators there had hoped to wring the newlywed couple out of every cent to their name.

The pace they set was slow, and Rey didn't like sitting with her face smushed against her husband's back all the time, so parts of their trek she would walk alongside. It gave her the opportunity to chat or at least observe some of the rather motley crew that made up the large expedition.

At the core of it was a salt mining operation. Far to the east apparently were great lakes made of solid salt that could be cut out into slabs. These were being taken to somewhere to the southwest where the highest price could be found.

The whole concept seemed completely bizarre to Rey, especially since the salt would loose much of its value if the blocks were broken. They found that out when one of the errand boys had apparently not tied a bundle o them up securely enough, causing several week's of wages to come crashing to the desert floor and the whole caravan to still to a halt in the ensuing chaos.

"Why can't they just scrape it back up and put it in a bag?" she'd asked Kylo as they watched from a safe distance.

"I haven't the foggiest clue."

At that a little boy- a little salt covered boy, had run bolting from between the wheels of a wagon. Judging by the shouts behind him, he had 'one hell of a whooping' in his future.

Kylo cleared his throat, gesturing quickly at the shadow cast by Dala's rear legs. Rey corrected the boy as he came running to them, shoving him into a crouch behind a low boulder then hopping onto Dala herself and making a show of cuddling up to her husband for distraction.

The supervisor had sneered at them, but then turned back. Such public displays of affection were considered highly inappropriate with this company, though Kylo continued his light stroking of her thighs long after both the boy and his seeker had scuttled off.

"You have a kind soul, dear wife. We would have gotten in trouble if they'd caught us helping him."

Rey slaps his wrists to subdue the movement.

"Only delaying his punishment, likely. They'll find him soon enough, unless he runs away. But being on his own out here at that age would be far worse than taking a few lashings."

Kylo turns to look at her then. Or at least turns as much as their unpopular seating arrangement on the saddle would allow him.

"Were you ever part of one of these? When you were a child?"

Rey shakes her head.

"The offer had been made, once. But I turned it down."

"Why?"

A fresh round of shouting breaks out from the middle of the crowd. The other lone drivers mill about, their tension and impatience clear as they wait for the delay to correct itself.

"Politics," Rey admits, "I always disliked bowing down to a hierarchy, especially one where I would be at the bottom of it. That's probably why I did so poorly within the harem."

That, and nearly every last one of her "sisters" were raging bitches. That hadn't helped, either.

The hand still floating on her thigh squeezes. Around them the caravan starts to stir back to movement.

"You weren't at the bottom there, Rey. Far from it."

Dala sighs in her horsey sort of way as she takes her place back in line.

"That made it even worse, Kylo. What a terrible situation you had just thrown me into."

Her husband doesn't answer. Clearly because he has none to give. Rey drops it, though. The cruelty of the harem was behind them for now, and if she's ever to return she'd best gather up all the strength and patience that she has.

* * *

Rey found that it was very hard to sleep without Kylo laying next to her.

That. Was. Ridiculous.

She couldn't sleep when she was alone now? Had she really fallen this far? Rey hardly even recognized herself when she looked in the warped mirror of the bathing hut. She looked the same as she always did, but she had also changed. The outside no longer matched the in.

Two weeks. Two bloody weeks. How had things gotten this far?

So she tosses and turns, glaring occasionally at _his_ uneaten plate on their table and the closed door to their private tent. Oh there were excuses to be made. She couldn't sleep not because Kylo wasn't here with her, but rather because where he was right now.

The idiot had gone off gambling after all. That was the last thing they needed. Bringing attention and trouble like that onto their heads. He'd been invited to the caravan's gambling tent- a _strictly men-only affair-_ apparently much to his amusement and Rey's annoyance, and that's where he had been all evening long. Leaving Rey to her lonesome, loathe as she had been to admit it. She'd even gone and visited Dala. Spent the better part of an hour stroking her hide and brushing her hair until their animal had started to shy away from her, clearly becoming annoyed with being on the receiving end of so much attention.

The stable boy had given her a flower. He said it had "come from one of the others" and Rey noticed that a certain other young salt-hand was still keeping a low profile about the camp.

That had been the high point of her evening. She wished Kylo had declined the invitation. What was the point of it? They didn't need more money any more than they needed more scrutiny.

On the other hand, declining might have been rude and already they were winning no new friends within the procession. That afternoon Rey had gotten weary of staring at the broad, vista-blocking spanse of her husband's back. She'd insisted on sitting up front like she always had before so they both could see. It made sense. Kylo was tall enough that he could easily look over the top of her head. However, her being up front wasn't the caravan's custom. It had gotten them so many dirty looks. So many.

That, and their earlier interference with the disciplining of the salt boy. Perhaps Kylo was right not to decline his offer into the gambling hut since they were already being perceived as rather rude, but _still_ …

Rey hated whenever he was right. Hated when he wasn't here.

She sighs and flops over yet again. Kicks her legs free of the tangle of sheets her restless movements had ensnarled her in. From outside came a burst of laughter that rose then faded. Rey froze, a lifetime of instincts demanding her to, until the night quieted down once more.

This… she hated people. Or maybe not quite. But she hated strangers and they were surrounded on all sides by them and it was getting later and alter and her husband _still_ wasn't back yet and now she was more awake then ever. Not. Fair.

"Oh bloody hell."

Outside music begins to play. It's very faint. Rey had insisted they put their tent as far away from the main center of the caravan as they could.

She's not getting any sleep tonight, is she? But she is comfortable, at least there's that. Reasonably clean and well fed and debateably safe. An argument could be made that this is the best her circumstances have been since becoming Kylo's wife.

And it's this tenuous level of comfort combined with laying alone pining for her husband to just get his sodding ass back in this tent with her that brings up… thoughts. Ponderments. Considerations.

 _You've never even touched yourself, have you? That fits with your narrative._

Kark what an _ass_. Really, how dare he?

Her husband may be a debauched and sex-obsessed rogue but it hardly mattered to her. She would remain untarnished to his perversity.

And wasn't it true that she had hardly thought about sex before this point in her life? Perhaps there had been certain moments of curiosity, granted, but the thought of sharing any level of such intimacy with someone was ridiculous. As ridiculous as it would have been pointless for her to know such things herself.

Rey had been perfectly happy leaving a chaste and moral existence before her life in the palace. Then her husband and that _stupid book_ had happened.

Gods, that wretched thing. A literal tome of indecency. She hadn't looked at it. She really hadn't.

Okay. Maybe one or two glances. Just to… curiosity. But curiosity was such a dangerous thing. She only looked at it a few times. A half dozen at most. Or maybe more because she kept forgetting her place when she would throw the book across the room and bury her head under her pillow. Or maybe she-

Oh bloody hells, she read the damned thing from start to finish, alright?

It didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. She was a good, moral person

Because it was a _book_. That was all it was. Nothing more.

And the fact that Kylo had wanted her to read it?

Rey blushes, her face burning even in the chill of the desert's night air.

Over the past few minutes as her mind raced over her memories her heart had been speeding up to match. All these thoughts had left her feeling quite… uncomfortable.

So why not give it a try? She shouldn't. She _can't_.

That wretched, horrible, terrible book. This is all its fault. Put these ideas in Rey's head that have no right to be there. There was a whole chapter on ma- mast-

Oh hells, she can't even say the word in her head, how ridiculous is that?

Because of Kylo. Not just the book's fault, her husband's too. He had teased her so much about her lack of understanding. He'd actually seemed rather pleased about her being so innocent, in fact. But he'd also given her such a hard time. So easily his advantage comes to him when he tries to wind her up.

Rey huffs in annoyance as she drags her hand to her waistband. It's nothing. This is nothing. Just try it, see how little she likes it, and then her husband's hold over her with this will be over.

And of course she _h_ _as_ touched herself before. Literally. When she washes or gets dressed or other such things. This is no different except it has a purpose. Nothing. Nothing at all.

So why has her arm locked up rigid, then? Now absolutely refusing to let her hand move?

It takes a ridiculous amount of mental fortitude to draw her hand down and lower. So stupid. Stupid and made much worse with how foreign her own touch suddenly feels. A part of her had been woken up by her recent experiences, and now that place is desperately battling for her attention.

Outside voices come and go. The music changes as the night wears on. Still no husband. Still just here all by herself.

"Fuck."

Not her usual choice of expletive, but Rey powers on. She bends her knees and spreads her legs a little wider, her hand slipping in short and jerky motions towards the path of her intent.

It doesn't even feel good, for kark's sake. Awkward and exhilarating and she's embarrassingly bad at this. The book had talked about this. Told her tips and tricks and toys that had more alarmed her than aroused her curiosity or anything else.

Truth be told, she had preferred the chapters on how to please someone else rather than herself. Now this- this sort of awkward fumbling and pressing that makes her breath catch and her heart race all the more- this is… something

Frustrating. Her husband would be better at this.

Rey has to bite back a whimper at that. Did she really just think that? Think that her husband would be infinitely better at touching her then she is to herself?

Because he would be, she was sure of that. She hadn't let him touch her very much. He'd had to earn every kiss he hadn't stolen. But even those brief caresses he'd managed to slip in through her defenses had been… compelling.

The memory of him stroking her shoulders and kissing her neck brings with is a fresh flush of desire. _Real_ desire, even if she'd rather not admit it.

Rey tries that then. Tries picturing the way he had touched her before and the way he might now if the book held any truth to it. Her stomach swoops as a flutter of both heat and intense guilt wash over her.

She draws her hands away to bury her face in her palms.

Guilt. Gods. She's guilty because she's picturing her husband doing these things to her. And she really liked it. And he's not here. And fantasizing about him touching her like this is so wrong because, if he were here, then…

Rey doesn't know how to answer that. This feels like very, very dangerous new ground she's toeing at.

And her blood had only barely started to cool when her speak-of-the-devil finally stumbles in however many minutes later.

"Hello gorgeous."

He stumbles, shuffles, then flops next to her. Rey recoils from his reaching arms as the scent of something very harsh and spicy washes over her.

"You're _drunk_." It's a statement, not an accusation. Or maybe it can be both.

The music had stopped outside. What time was it, anyhow?

Kylo hums, trying to pull her into his arms.

"Only a little drunk flat off my ass, dear wife."

He tries again and Rey shifts to the farthest edge of their mattress. His lips push out as he pouts exaggeratedly, his rejected hands now throwing themselves into coming out his hair.

"You didn't take your boots off," she snaps.

Their thin sheets were now sandy, prickling against the exposed lower half of her legs and making her temper change to match.

"Mhmmmm," the fool sounded half asleep already. "Would've taken too long. Had to get to my wife sooner as I can."

Rey sits upright, holding the sheet to her chest even if she's fully covered under it. Kylo's hand drifts from her shoulder down, skimming the fabric towards the small of her back.

"Rey?"

She bites the side of her thumb, silencing herself as his hand dips to her waistband then up, darting under her shirt to touch bare skin.

"Reyyy."

He sing-songs her name. Fingertips burn a path against skin that had aching for him not so long ago.

"You're drunk," she repeats.

Drunk Kylo wasn't wholly new to her, but she didn't like him before and even less now. The man she had just been fantasizing about was infinitely preferable. Pity he didn't exist.

"I've got a surprise for you."

Rey raises an eyebrow as her suspicions immediately spike. How wonderful. Her husband has a _surprise_ for her.

His hand falls to hers and he guides it over to his chest.

"Kylo-"

"I won a ton of money tonight. Like nearly tripled what I started with. Those other people can't gamble for shit."

He rests her palm firmly over his heart. There's a bulge there where he must keep their money hidden that's now much larger than before.

Rey's eyes grow wide as realization dawns.

"Kylo!" She tries to jerk her hand away but he holds tight, a drunken smile spilling across his full lips. "Kylo, for the _love_ _of_ _the gods_ , please tell me you're not serious?"

That earns her a change in expression. Kylo lifts himself up onto his elbows.

"What? I didn't cheat, if that's what you're up about. I didn't have to. Them folks I was gambling with were just shit players. When they invited me into their game they didn't have a clue how out of their league I was."

Rey face palms. Literally face palms. Her husband was… was… was a kriffing _idiot_!

"Kylo!" she snaps. "We have to travel with these people. Did it occur to you even once that taking their money- money that we didn't even _need_ \- might only cause trouble for us?"

Kylo frowns and Rey has to knot her fists in the blanket to stop herself from slapping him upside the head.

"They're merchants, Rey, not paupers. If they couldn't afford to lose the money then they shouldn't have been gambling, and losing, to begin with."

He flops back down again, resting the bend of his elbow over his eyes. Rey gapes at him. So that was it, then? He reallt thinks that whoever the hell these "merchants" he's traveling with will be content to just let the stranger in their midst get away with rolling them? Nevermind that technically Kylo was in the right, her idiot husband just brought down a whole weight of headache onto Rey's mind. And now he's just going to sleep right through it, his plush lips already parted in the soft stages of first sleep. Leaving Rey to be up all night just waiting for someone drunken and now much poorer to storm into their tent and-

"On the floor. Now."

Rey shoves at him. Pushes uselessly at the bulk of his closer shoulder.

Kylo sort of grunts and shifts, settling deeper into the bed.

Rey smacks him with the pillow, striking him hard enough that the _whumph_ sound it makes against his head is mildly satisfying.

Kylo sputters, untangling himself from the sheets and sitting up.

"Rey." He catches her wrist mid-swat and the almost hurt expression he gives her only makes her more annoyed at him.

"You are so damned selfish and thoughtless and… and you don't think, Kylo. Do you? Ever?"

He blinks. Rey tightens her grip on the pillow.

"What did-"

"And that you don't know makes it all the worse. I'm not sleeping with you next to me tonight, _your highness_. Consider yourself officially in the doghouse and get on the floor."

Sometimes, most of the time, he just makes her so angry. Gets right under her skin and presses every button but the worst part is Rey doesn't even think he's doing it on purpose. Her husband is just categorically the world's most infuriating person. Ever.

Kylo doesn't move. He frowns, his drunken mind no doubt sluggishly trying to decipher the reason behind his wife's condemnation.

She kicks at him, trying to force his lower body off the mattress. Not a chance that she'll sleep next to him tonight. Such a clueless man.

"Fine," he grumbles.

He lets go of her wrist abruptly, rolling away and she falls onto her own elbows in the spot where he'd just occupied. Gracelessly he slumps down off their bed, dragging the blanket along with him.

"You're going to feel like shit about this in the morning, Rey."

She snorts. Yeah, pretty sure that was her line. Rey flicks his pillow over the edge and inwardly smiles at the huff she gets in return when it must have landed on his face.

For the next few minutes there's quiet, if not peace. Kylo stays still, staying so silent Rey can hardly even hear him breathe. He was normally a heavy sleeper and, combined with his clear intoxication, that meas he must still be awake.

And so is she. It's so late or so early now that the whole camp has finally fallen silent. If some disgruntled gambler was going to make a move, now would be the time.

But was what Kylo did really so wrong? Yes. No. Thoughtless. It was thoughtless. _He_ was thoughtless.

So why did Rey suddenly feel guilty? Her pig-headed husband had done something pig-headed. That was what he was not-

Not like the perfect man of her fantasy. She knew he _could_ be that man, but probably never would.

And maybe she overreacted. He was drunk. That made him even more foolish than usual. And chances were that their time with the caravan was coming to its conclusion sooner rather than later so… so let him enjoy these brief moments of comfort? Even if he doesn't deserve it?

Rey sighs. The tent is too quiet.

"Kylo," she whispers. "Come back to bed."

Silence. It sounds like a petty one.

"Kylo," she tries again. She's not apologizing. That's not going to happen at all. "C'mon. Come back to our bed and I promise I won't hit you with a pillow again." Unless I really have to.

More silence. Rey crinkles up her nose. Fine then.

She rolls over to the edge of the bed to glare down at him. If he's pretending to be asleep when she knows he damned well isn't-

Kylo grabs her with a speed that should be beyond someone in his inebriated state. Faster than Rey can even process she ends up in his arms, wrapped up tight and pressed to his chest.

"Mhmmm, that's much better."

"Kylo-"

He lets go of her with one hand to trail it down her back. When he reaches her rump he squeezes and Rey squeaks.

"Woof."

His hand dips lower still, now squeezing the top of the back of her thigh. Rey stiffens, her eyes popping wide. She wants to make a protest for decency, but her voice completely leaves her as he starts to rub, cupping and caressing her in the absolute closest he's ever gotten to the apex of her legs.

"Bet you wish you were armed with that pillow now, don't you darling?"

His breath still carries the spicy bite from before, but suddenly Rey finds the scent of him not so bad. She presses her lips into a tight line, fighting an epic internal battle.

"Shall I keep going, darling? You seem quite _tense_. I know how to help you sleep."

She shakes her head. It's the best she can do. Voice gone, thoughts fraying.

The hand stills. Rey swallows. He kisses her temple.

Then he flips her over, half pinning her underneath him, and the cold of the tent's floor against her back melts away as he captures her mouth with his own.

They've had some pretty hot kisses before, at least as far as Rey knew them to be. This was different, though. This time Kylo was taking just as much as he was giving.

She moaned into his mouth as his tongue twisted over hers. She couldn't help it. He was just so godsdamned _good_ at this.

The desire he awoke in her was palpable, but there was also something else behind it. Something far more dangerous, and now made all the worse with her so recent fantasies of him.

His kiss deepens and a wave of dizzy longing sends Rey's spinning. Right now, at this moment, Rey wouldn't say no to him. Even if he's drunk and they've just been fighting. If her mouth weren't so fully occupied she might say something to betray every principle she's held herself to in these last few weeks.

Kylo's hands wrap around her again. One cradling the back of her head to hold her up and still for him, and the other splaying itself across her hip to rock her flush with him.

Then she feels his erection grinding against her stomach and Rey immediately stiffens. Her perfect dream husband certainly didn't have _that_ as he pleasured her.

She pushes at his shoulders. Kylo doesn't take the hint at first, but a sharp yank on his ear draws his lips reluctantly away.

He frowns down at her. Rey blinks, her eyes flicking to anywhere else.

"I- get off me."

For a moment Kylo doesn't move. She doesn't move. Silence prevails and Rey's mind can't help but ask itself _what if his answer is no?_

Then his weight and warmth leave her. Kylo turns her, grabbing her shoulder and flipping her onto her side so he can shove her further away from him.

"Goodnight."

His voice is crisp. He pops the final 't' and Rey fidgets with her sleeve-edges until he shoves her again. Makes enough room from himself to flop down and glare up at the ceiling.

Rey swallows, her throat dry and her voice coming as a scratchy whisper.

"I'm not doing this to torture you, Kylo."

His responding laugh could be the very definition of humorless.

"There's worse things in the world than loving your husband, Rey."

Rey gapes at him. Kylo rolls his eyes before draping his bent arm back over them.

"Hypocrite," he mutters. Or maybe he doesn't say it, but he might as well have, Rey can hear the word hanging so clearly over them both.

Carefully Rey sits up, her mind and body both reeling at the sudden shift. She wants to crawl under something very deep and dark and never come out. This one- this latest argument- was on her, wasn't it?

Maybe, maybe not. Rey doesn't even know what she doesn't know anymore. Her husband's good at making her like this.

She has to step over him to get back on their bed. Kylo stays silent. With his eyes hidden from her it's going to be impossible for her to gauge the truth if he even answers her at all.

"Kylo?"

Silence. She sighs. The bed's gone cold and she's still half-longing for him.

"Kylo?" she tries again. "Do you love me?"

What is love? What does it feel like? Look like? It's not tangible. Such a tricky thing. She wouldn't even know it if she felt it.

Rey reaches out to pinch and tug on the taut fabric over his bent elbow. Little by little she drags his arm away, though he must be helping her for it only takes a slight true effort.

"Do you love me?" she repeats.

Her husband's highly unimpressed eyes deadpan up at her.

"Rey, darling wife of mine, what's _not_ to love?"

Then he turns onto his side, yanking his pillow out from under him to rather childishly bury his head under it.

 _Well then._

* * *

Marital Spat Number Five Thousand didn't last long. Predictably.

The night was chilled, quiet, and Rey missed seeing the moon. She didn't sleep but it felt like only an hour or at most two had passed before Kylo had grunted, gone out of the tent presumably to heed the call of nature, then crawled into the bed next to her.

"Cold," he mutters and Rey nods, the gesture probably lost in the darkness.

She'd been tossing and turning with all these things she wanted to say to her husband, but they leave her mind as he pulls her into his arms and rests her head on his chest. His heartbeat sounds almost deafening next to her ear. Does their silence feel as loaded to him as it does to her?

"Why do we fight so much?" she finally forces herself to say.

Rey picks her head up and finds Kylo watching her with sleepy eyes. He shrugs and she frowns.

"We're married."

A fact that she was acutely aware of and didn't bear repeating.

She shifts to a different position where she can prop her head up on her hand.

"But we fight _all the time_. So much arguing. Why? Why are we like this?"

Kylo takes her other hand in his and rolls his tumb around her wedding ring.

"We're _married,_ Rey. Fighting is just what married people do. The amount that we argue… feels about right. Yeah."

He smiles at her. Rey frowns back. With a shrug Kylo guides her head back down to his shoulder.

"Do you think I fight with my other wives like I do with you?" he asks.

Rey… would greatly prefer if he never mentioned _them_ ever again. Not mentioning them would be the second best thing to them not existing at all.

Still though… it's an interesting question.

"Do you?" she asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Kylo kisses her forehead and Rey wrinkles her nose.

"No, Rey, I don't."

A beat passes as Rey turns that piece of information over in her mind.

"So that's supposed to make me feel better then? That I'm special because I'm the only one you antagonize like you do?"

He kisses her again and Rey pinches his side.

"It means I put in the effort with you, Rey. If any of my other wives spoke to me like you did I would send them back to the harem and ignore them. You're special because you get the full Kylo Crown Prince of Alderaan experience."

Rey smiles despite herself.

"Kark you're an ass," she mutters, snuggling closer.

A third kiss and Rey growls in warning.

"Ahhh, marital bliss," he coos. "My treasure of a wife knows just the right thing to say to her husband."

"I wish I was your only wife."

Things would be so much better then. Nearly all their problems would melt away if she were his one and only.

"Yeah, me too."

Kylo threads his hand through her hair, holding her head gently down so she can't look up at him. Rey swallows and lets her eyes drift close. It's been a long night. Dawn has to come soon and now, at least, Rey can finally sleep in peace.

* * *

author's note:

Yeah Kylo, piss off a whole bunch of people that you have to travel with. Good idea, mate, good idea.

And, I'm not 1000% decided yet, but I think we might get our first E rated chapter either next one or very soon! *excited clapping* I'm really looking forward to smutting it up with these two cantankerous love birds!


	22. So mabe I'm tempted, so what?

Author's note:

Back again, back again! I'm trying to get back in the writing groove for NaNoWriMo (which is coming up so soon! Eek!) so I'm trying to update/write something every other day. Hence why this chapter is a little short, but I should have the second part of it up… well Tuesday is H2H, so Thursday? Friday? Let's try it!

* * *

Summary: Where Rey lets her mind wander all of the place, and Kylo works Rey up to a fever pitch without even trying or meaning to.

* * *

Rey had woken up to the dawn's cry to rise with her husband's erection very scandalously pressing against her stomach.

She would have groaned in sheer embarrassment if her lungs hadn't frozen mid-inhale. Kylo had just fallen asleep like that, had he? His lips were lightly pressed to her forehead, one of his hands on her hip, and the soft, steady rise and fall of his chest revealed that she was the only one of the two of them that was aware of the crisis.

If her cheeks could burn any hotter she'd probably set the bed on fire.

A slight push at his shoulders and he doesn't karking move. Doesn't even stir.

And then an itch starts to form at the back of her mind. The tingle of curiosity. Dangerous, foolish, misguided curiosity.

She's never seen her husband naked. Well, not _fully_ , at least. Or frontally, to be more specific, because his rather jaunty walk away from her back at her old hut had to have counted for something. And he was more or less fully clothed now, which somehow made her curiosity feel even more forbidden. Some tiny, deeply depraved inkling within her wanted… wanted to peek.

She wanted to see her husband's cock.

Oh gods that sounded so bad…

Rey buries her face in her palm and Kylo huffs. Then he stills. Still sleeping, completely oblivious to the fact that his wife was damned-near-literally dying of chagrin. The thoughts she was having should have been murderous. How dare he, right? How dare he put her in this situation? How dare… she not completely mind?

Rey can _feel_ him through the thin layers o fabric between them. It was torture. That was the best word for it. She had told him last night that torture was exactly what she wasn't doing, and oh how that had blown back in her face now.

She could smell him, too. Her face was buried against his neck. Whatever soap he had used was really nice. Sandalwood and cinnamon and wickedness. All kinds of wrong that made her mind wander to places she damned well hadn't ever given it permission to go.

And the longer he was pressed against her stomach the harder it was to form a coherent thought.

She pushes against his shoulder then. Nothing. She had to get out of here before this heat working its way through her cuts off all sense of reason.

"Kylo."

She hisses it low. Outside came the stirrings of the caravan. People were waking up and starting their day, and at any given moment any one of them could barge in here and see this compromising situation.

Which was ridiculous, because why _would_ they? It's not like she barges into strangers tents, especially if they're newlyweds. But the random fear is enough to mask what Rey knows she's really afraid of. Time to pretend this never, ever happened.

" _Kylo."_

A harder push. His hand on her hip tightens and she starts to squirm before she abruptly stops, realizing what she was doing.

"Wake the bloody hell up!"

It comes out as a louder hiss. Her pulse gallops when his head dips down and he takes her lips with his own.

Of all the kisses they'd shared, this one had to be the most electrifying. Kylo's hand rises from her hip to cup her cheek and everywhere he touches pure fire and sin is left behind. When his tongue snakes into the mix Rey absolutely can't stand it anymore.

She shoves herself away almost violently, the force of her frantic movements so excessive that she falls right out of their narrow bed to the floor.

"Rey?"

Oh gods. Can she just disappear already? Please, universe, _please_?

Kylo looks down at her, his pupils dilated and that stupid perfectly messed up hair of his never looking more divinely touchable.

She swallows mutely, staring up at him as her vocal cords seize up.

Kylo blinks. Then smirks.

"Well that's one way to wake a guy up, huh?" his voice is jaunty. Rey can't bear to look further down than his chin.

The damned cocky, casual bastard doesn't even realize what caused this to begin with.

"You'd better have been dreaming about me," she mutters.

Kylo's smile grows wider. Either he gets it now or he doesn't and Rey isn't sure which one is worse.

"Well good morning to you, too."

A hand extends towards her, probably to offer to help her up off the karking floor, and that's it. Rey bolts. She's on her feet and out the door of their tent in seconds, forget the fact that she's half dressed and barefoot. Right now the priority is getting away from her too-handsome and amorous husband no matter what it takes.

* * *

The day progresses and they don't talk about it.

Or at least Rey doesn't. Kylo was his usual infuriating self. His hands would wander around her waist as they ride, oftentimes sliding from one hip bone to the other or, even worse, rising up to the band of her breast wrap. She would elbow him and hiss, and he'd laugh with a predicable crack about how **o** _h, she didn't seem to mind it this morning, did she?_

And he had her at a disadvantage, of course. Because he knew she wouldn't make _too_ much of a fuss. Not when already they were drawing angry glares from those of the caravan around them. The fact that she was sitting up front ahead of her husband was a bad enough violation of the customs. Getting caught getting groped? They had enough enemies with the merchants who her husband had well-played, no need to add to this list.

There were two of them in particular that made Rey nervous. Kylo had said he had played and won against five of them, but two seemed to hold the biggest grudge over losing their hard-earned money to an outsider.

The first was an older man. Tall and thin with short-cut grey hair and a massive scar scratched across the right side of his face. He'd sneered at Rey this morning as she'd shuffled back from the washing hut still in her nightgown. She hadn't known who he was at the time, but then her husband pointed him to her later. Warned her to stay away and watch herself and Rey didn't have to be told that twice, the look in the man's good eye spoke it all on its own.

The other scorned merchant had been circling as well, keeping his own pack of horses closer than Rey would have liked. It certainly felt like they were threatening them, though they hadn't come out and said it. Yet. The second man was swathed in black, with most of his face covered from the harsh glare of the sun. Rey thinks he was the one who'd been watching them before, even prior to that ill-conceived gambling night.

This was trouble. Plenty of it. Rey had half wanted to insist that Kylo _just give them back their damned money_. The other half of her had won out, though. That was the old part of her. The one that said yes, it was stupid to bring this down on their own heads, but they had earned it. Kylo had won that gold fair and square, so who did these wretches think they were giving them such a hard time about it?

It wasn't to say that everyone of the whole caravan seemed to hate them. Just nearly so. That little boy they had temporarily saved from a caning had given her a flower when they'd stopped to rest Dala during the heat of the day. Kylo had shared their simple lunch with him and the boy had been keenly shy. It hurt Rey's heart to see how little used to the kindness of strangers he was, but at least there was one person who might be on their side.

* * *

The caravan didn't make camp until late that night.

Apparently they were running behind schedule. Numerous delays including and beyond the salt breaking fiasco of the day before and the whole lot of them having to come to a stop to pick up Kylo and Rey had all contributed. Rey had finally met the leader of the procession: a stone faced and unreadable elderly man named Kamen. Rumor had it he had been a former general or soldier or some such back in his youth, and Rey could see it now in the sharp and commanding way he ordered the servant boys about.

The rest of the group had been complaining about the late hour they had finally stopped at, but a sharp look from Kamen had silenced them down to murmurs. He clearly was a man who would take no quarter from anyone, though Rey wondered if perhaps she couldn't risk a word with him to see if he could speak to the angry merchants on their behalf.

Not tonight, though. Tonight the whole camp seemed tired and ornery. Kylo had arranged for their dinner to be brought to them rather than dine in one of the public tents. Another social faux pas, given by the dirty look they got from the caravan's cook, but Rey was beyond caring. They were going to make no friends here and she had other more pressing things on her mind.

Like her husband. Try as she might, Rey couldn't stop thinking about her husband. All day long he'd been so much more affectionate than usual. When she'd been caught up fretting over what to do with the merchants or how much longer their welcome within the caravan would hold, Kylo had apparently tasked himself with distracting her.

"You look troubled, dear wife," he would purr, his hands stroking along her sides until she couldn't hide her ticklish smile with a scowl anymore.

He would kiss her too, though he knew better than to be too bold about it. A simple press of his lips to her cheek or temple as he pretended to lean forward and adjust Dala's reins. Then, when the evening had set down and they were more hidden in the growing shadows, he would wrap his arms around her tight, pull her against his chest, and rumble how _karking beautiful_ she was right into her ear.

It reminded her of that morning. How he'd held her so close then, too.

 _That_ memory brought with it a growing need. When Kylo had dared a kiss to her neck Rey had all but moaned, leaning into it with her head rolling back.

Then she'd immediately caught herself, jerking forwards and startling Dala with her sudden movement. Luckily Kylo's hands were all over her, clinging to every part of her that she'd let him, or she might have fallen right off just like she had their bed.

"What's going on with you tonight?" he'd whispered.

Rey didn't have an answer to him. Because she didn't have one for herself. She'd never felt more… tactile. She _craved_ her husband. Craved the one thing she couldn't let herself have.

And the longer they kept toeing the line, the more her curiosity grew and grew.

It was probably just an hour before midnight before Rey could make it to the bathing tent. It might seem like a luxury at this weary hour, but a full day spent under the desert's sands in this dusty basin had made it a necessity.

The few other women there had ignored her. They passed their pipe and gossiped in another tongue and Rey wasn't stupid. She knew she was being shunned. Hardly mattered, though. After dealing with the harem harpies a cold shoulder from her fellow gender almost seemed pleasant.

So she sat in her little corner with her steaming bucket and let herself get lost in thought. Tonight felt different. It felt like there was something in the air. Something both electric and terrifying. She would have to go to her husband soon and, after the way he had been misbehaving all day long, the though of laying next to him made her feel giddy with anticipation.

The bathwater was hot, but Rey felt hotter. The rough cloth scraping away the day's dirt and grime had her min wandering. She should do this with _him_ sometime. She hadn't seen him naked yet. She should-

No she shouldn't. She really shouldn't.

There were so many things Rey wanted to do with Kylo. Or _to_ him. It was all that book's fault.

Her husband didn't need any other wife. She could be his everything. Maybe she just needed to show him that. They couldn't make love. Rey couldn't ever allow that. Because her heart would follow right along, and she was holding on to it by gossamer threads enough as it is. But if she showed Kylo that there was nothing he could have with someone else that he couldn't have with her?

Rey's pulse starts to pound in her ears. She splashes the cooling water on her face and is surprised steam doesn't rise up. The water falls down her nose, across her lips, and over her chin. All she can picture is her husband following the same path.

Then the water narrows, sliding across her breast to fall from her nipple and Rey can't breathe at all. His lips were _made_ to touch her there. If his hands had felt good, his mouth would be more wicked still.

"Lights out."

Rey jolts, her foot knocking the washing bucket and splashing now lukewarm soapy water against her ankle. The bathing attendant, a no-nonsense woman well into her elderly years, is scowling down at her. The rest of the bathers must have left, and had she really been so far away in her head not to notice?

Rey stands, drawing her robe tight, and tries to ignore the gimlet stare down the attendant was giving her. Sure, she'd just been sitting there, staring at her nipples in the dark. Nothing strange about that. Nothing to see here.

Still, Rey tips her a half piece on her way out. The woman's gaze doesn't soften in the slightest.

Rey scurries off towards their tent, feeling almost drunk off the light of the moon and her own wandering thoughts. This had to stop. Something had to give.

She has to steel herself before she opens the flap inside. She can see Kylo's silhouette and his back is turned to her as he moves about. The false sight of him alone is enough for her to make up her mind. She's going to do it. Whatever _it_ is. She hasn't decided yet, but that karking, godsforsaken, debauched book tome won't get the better of her.

Every doubt and fear starts screaming like a banshee within her. Pay them no mind. Rey can't let herself think of the reasons why not. Because there are so many.

No, tonight, just for once, Rey's not going to think at all. Tonight she's going to seduce her husband. Pity she doesn't have the slightest clue where to start.

* * *

author's note:

Oh so close! And silly Rey, she really doesn't realize that all it would take to seduce her husband is a wink and a smile, he's so smitten with her already!

And I know I'm WAY behind on replying to everyone's comments! I'm super sorry, I've been travelling and the internet's expensive and nonexistant and blah blah excuses, I promise I'll catch up as soon as I can! Please keep commenting, without everyone's support and kind words this story would never have made it past chapter 2! THank you all very much and I'll reply to everyone as soon as i can, promise!


	23. Took 'em long enough, huh?

summary:

Where Rey's one thirsty girl but luckily her husband's around to help her out.

* * *

"What is all this?"

Rey may have stormed into the tent hell bent on seducing Kylo and working him out of her system, but he was already one step ahead of her. Like he always was. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she still was.

"Dinner, candles, and wine, my darling," he says, grandly sweeping his hands along the display. "I would have gotten you flowers, too, but… it's a desert and at night. Not so easy on an hour's notice."

Kylo pats at the floor cushion next to him. The candles of the low table flicker softly with her quiet, almost timid footsteps. She had come here with a plan, but now seeing her husband here waiting for her had thrown every notion in her head off to the nighttime breeze.

"Why?"

She asks it very quietly. A smile curls on her lips as he catches her wrist to draw her closer to him as she settles down on the cushion. He'd set the low table in front of them with the dried snacks and the various fruits and nuts they'd been nibbling on throughout the day. It was all the food they had with them apart from the caravan's formal mealtimes, and probably it had been too late in the night for him to arrange to have anything made.

Kylo kisses her shoulder through the fabric of her robe. She can almost feel him on her skin.

"Because I wanted to make you happy."

Rey… _oh_. The knot of tension that had been forming inside her twists in a way that's both terrifying and not altogether unpleasant. Her husband really knows how to put on the charm when he wants to.

"We-" he's left her reeling, stumbling over her words and he hasn't even done anything yet. "We've been fighting too much," she manages to say.

Kylo's smile widens in the sidelines of her vision but Rey can't look at him. Oddly her eyes are starting to itch, a pressure building in her chest as she looks at him.

"Or not enough," he answers. His hand strokes across her shoulder, sliding smoothly over the fabric of her robe before pulling away. "Wine?"

She misses him. Even though he's right there, just a breath away. She misses him because he's not touching her.

Stiffly she nods.

"We've never done this before," he says. There was a bottle on the table. Rey hadn't even noticed anything but him. "We've never had a proper, romantic evening together. Do you like it, Rey?"

The label on the wine is in another language. Its rich smell clings to the air as he pours it into two glasses.

"A romantic evening?" Dry as her mouth is, Rey's not sure drinking right now is a good idea. Or maybe its the best idea ever. "Is that what we're doing now? It's very late, shouldn't we be sleeping?"

Her hand doesn't shake as she accepts her glass and his fingers ghost along her own.

"Eager to get me between the sheets, wife?"

He reaches out and tucks her hair covering her face behind her ears so she has nowhere to hide from him. Rey presses her lips firmly for a moment.

"Kylo, you're such an asshole."

Her words would have more bite if she wasn't smiling so widely. Kylo snorts a laugh and trails a single fingertip of pure fire down her neck to her collarbone.

"I know," he breathes.

Their eyes meet and he looks so damned young then. The same cocky, impossible man she's been married off to, but there's someone else now there as well.

"A toast?" he offers, finally pulling away. Rey's head spins even if she hasn't touched a drop yet.

She raises her glass, waiting for Kylo to continue. He raises an eyebrow at her. Oh.

"To- to us," she offers. "To making it out here so far. Together. And not killing each other."

Kylo smiles wider. Gods how she loves those lips of his.

"Not _yet_ , and I'll drink to that."

The clink carries a musical note. Good quality glasses and the wine's rich and even better.

"Where did you get this?" she asks. Surely he didn't bring it with him, right? Impossible.

Kylo sighs and settles back down, resting his back against the taut canvas of the wall of their tent. His whole posture is relaxed and happy and probably tired as well. When he rolls his neck, Rey follows the sensuous ways the cords of his muscles seem to glide under his skin.

"From the little errand boy. The one who gave you the flower. I asked him if he had another one but he didn't. So I paid him a gold piece to bring us some wine and glasses. I think they came straight from Kamen's personal supply."

Rey raises an eyebrow at that. As long as they don't get caught with it, she supposes its alright, but her husband does so love to toe the line of trouble doesn't he?

"A gold? A whole piece of gold? It's good wine, Kylo, but that little boy took you for a ride. It would be worth a quarter and not a pip more."

His eyes sparkle, the candlelight seeming to dance against their endless depths.

"I know," he shrugs. "The boy needed it more than we, so what's the harm?"

He takes another sip from his flute of wine. Rey presses hers to her lips, not drinking but using it as an excuse.

Her husband was… so many things. Too many. But he was generous. Impossible to her but at the same time so kind to others. Sometimes he was so foolish, but the more time she spent with him the more it became clear that his acts came genuinely from a good place in his heart.

Kylo leans forward, filling up her nearly full glass and his lips nearly touching her as he does so. Rey watches listlessly, desire unfurling in her belly as they toast again and the next sip to wine starts to seep through her veins.

She wanted him. Rey has to admit that to herself now. Gods above how she wanted him.

"Rey?"

At that moment his voice was more decadent than anything she'd ever tasted. Except for when he would kiss her. That was sweeter yet.

Then clarity sparkles and Rey blinks at him. He's watching her. Watching her watch him.

Her cheeks flush at that revelation. She'd been staring at his lips for… for how long? Gods. Hopeless.

"More wine?" she makes herself say. It feels like the air between them is almost to hot to breathe.

Kylo hums and her blush only grows. He takes the bottle from her hand and pours them both another drink. Then he pulls back to watch her, his long fingers playing with the stem of his own glass and Rey almost flinches from the sudden rush of fresh desire that shocks through her. To think that she'll have to sleep next to him tonight? She won't be able to. There's simply not a way she can lay there and not-

"Darling?"

She hadn't realized she'd closed her eyes until his voice brings her back to herself once again. The way he's looking at her now has changed. The earlier mirth of his expression has faded to something else entirely.

Rey swallows. Nods. Not trusting her voice or any part of herself right now. The way he's looking at her makes her want to- to- makes her _want_.

"Would you like to have an orgasm?"

Would- _what?!_

The moments pass by slowly, each one taking its time to ring through Rey's ears. Her mouth drops as she tries to think how to answer.

Yes. No. _Yes_.

"W-why?"

Kylo strokes her cheek and she's torn between leaning into it or running away and hiding in the shadows until morning.

"Why?" His eyes scan her face and Rey can feel his gaze heating up every part of her. "Because, Rey, you look like you really need one."

Rey gapes. Doesn't move. He leans forward then and kisses the corner of her mouth. She won't turn her head for him- she _can't_ \- but he proves his point when his next kiss presses against the pulse of her neck. He must be able to feel her heart beating like a hummingbird, every nerve on her setting alight with need as he kisses lower and lower and lower and rests his forehead against her collarbone. She's rolled her head back shamelessly by then, her hands gripping his shoulders to hold him close.

When he pulls back his face is only millimeters from her own and all she can see is his beautiful dark eyes staring into her soul.

"Rey?"

Every time he says her name like that makes breathing is so hard. All she can manage is short pants. When her tongue darts out to wet her lips Kylo's eyes darken, his pupils dilating as eh watches her every breath.

She never answered his question.

"What-" _Damnit_. "What do you mean?"

Kylo pulls back then, just the barest amount, and it takes every bit of Rey's resolve not to follow him and capture his lips with her own.

"I mean that I want to touch you, Rey. I want to give you your first climax. I want to make you come apart under me as many times as your innocent body can take."

There's no joke in his eyes. No teasing just to wind her up. He really means it and no moment has ever felt more dangerous.

"Ky-" Hesitantly, she reaches out to stroke his face. Kylo rests his cheek in her palm, his falling to her lips again. "How would you do it?"

It's a wicked question to ask, but Rey doesn't recognize herself at this moment. This isn't her saying it. Some other girl is, and she's just skinriding along with her.

If she'd thought her Kylo's eyes were dark with passion before, it's nothing like how he's staring at her now. He takes her hand a presses a kiss to the center of her palm.

"How? Shall I describe it for your first, Rey? Because gods know I've thought about it enough in my head. Or I could show you, and give us both a release we so desperately need."

He's been gradually leaning more and more over her as Rey feels her muscles turn to jelly. By now she's slumped against the cushion at her back, and Kylo lets her hand drop weightlessly to her lap. He strokes her neck, this time his touch ghosting over the front of er robe to fall to the knot of the tie.

"Would you like me to touch you, Rey?" he repeats.

So close… such a decision.

She shakes her head, her mind rolling listlessly. For a second Kylo seems to freeze, and the sudden, hidden burst of hurt blooming across his expression makes her mind for her.

"What if I want to touch _you_ , Kylo? Not the other way around?"

It's his turn to blink and hesitate. Rey inwardly squirms, wanting to jump ahead to the morning after all that will happen has already happened and she can then reflect back on it.

"Touch me?" he breaths. "They don't have to be mutually exclusive, Rey, we can always-"

"You can't take my virginity, Kylo. I can't give that to you."

She blurts it out, but it's true. Because, if she did, her heart would inevitably follow along with it as well. If he didn't have it already.

Kylo blinks, seeming to realize that she wasn't saying _no_. Not this time.

"I can eat you like a ripe mango for hours, Rey. You'll be the most well-climaxed virgin in all the lands come morning."

Those lips of his on her… the book had talked about that in great detail. In fact, _that_ had been the very first page she'd seen, thanks to her husband's bookmark when he'd given it to her.

She squirms. Anything to ease the itch inside her. Kylo must notice because he catches her hips in his hands, his body now half on top of her but he kneels to keep his weight off.

"I'm going to seduce you, Kylo," she declares.

He laughs. His damned mouth is just too perfect.

"You're doing a bloody good job of it, Wife."

His hands dip lower, grabbing her ass now. Rey makes a high pitched sound as he picks her up, lifting her off her feet and into his arms. The table shifts as he steps forward, their shared center of gravity making him slightly off-balance and the bottle of wine clatters to the floor. Neither of them pay it any mind, Kylo's strong arms effortlessly carrying her to their bed and Rey buries her face against his neck and breathes him in.

"We can-" he starts. Rey shakes her head to stop him.

"I know." She murmurs it against those very same muscles she'd been admiring earlier.

When Kylo sets her on the bed he tries to lay her down. Rey immediately pops up again, sitting on the mattress with her knees folded under her. Her husband was a very tall man. She wasn't sure how else to get the- well, the book had offered several options for positions, but him standing while she kneels and takes him in her mouth seemed like the most logical option.

"Rey?"

He seems confused at first, then his eyes widen to almost comical dimensions as she reaches out and starts to fiddle with the buckle of his belt.

"Rey! No, I will- _you first_. Not that you aren't the most perfect creature ever for offering, but this is all about _you_ tonight."

Because he was scared she'd run away from this otherwise? Rey was scared she'd run from this. But it's alright. She's someone else now. She's that other girl who's going to get what she wants tonight.

"Kylo." Shaky. Very shaky. Self pep-talk aside, this was still a bloody hard thing for her to say out loud. "Kylo, I want to touch your cock."

He blinks. She very nearly falters. Her finds are still on his buckle but they don't move at all.

"What?" he asks, a slight croak to his voice.

Breathe, Rey, breathe.

"I want to touch your cock."

Damnit hands, move! Kylo continues to gape down at her.

" _What?!_ "

"I want to- oh gods Kylo- _I want to touch your cock."_

He leans forward slightly, his upper body bending at the waist. His hands fall over her own and Rey dimly realizes that she's trembling.

"Rey, it must be the acoustics where I'm standing up here, but I swear I didn't catch that. Could you say it for me again?"

Oh _gods,_ he was- he was winding her up again, wasn't he? Now and about _that_ of all times?!

Rey tries to jerk her hands back, her face burning like never before.

"You can hear me just fine, can't you?" she snaps.

Kylo grins that damned grin of his and Rey jerks one of her hands away to- to- slap him against his belly. He was _impossible_.

"You're such an asshole!" she huffs again.

It's hard to stay angry, though. Even if she'd like to. Not when she can feel him swell against the hand still on his belt.

"Rey… _I know_."

He strokes her face and Rey glares up at him. He looks so damned pleased with himself.

The terrible nervous tension that had gripped her had ebbed, however. Pushed down by a more familiar wave of irritation and lust. Rey sucks in a shaky breath and Kylo toys with her hair, his other hand gently squeezing her own.

"Change your mind yet and want to let me do all the work? That ripe mango is still very much on the table?"

She immediately shakes her head.

"We do this on my terms, Kylo. I want to touch you."

She wriggles her hand free from his and tries not to notice how he feels under her palm.

"You want to touch me where again?"

Her head snaps up and he captures her angry retort with his lips.

He dominates their kiss effortlessly, Rey arching into him despite her brief moment of bravado. Every part of her that he touches craves more, her whole body tightening and coiling with a maddening need. When he pulls away there's a question in his eyes.

"Show me," she answers. "Show me what to do?"

Rey reaches for his belt again, opening it and sliding it through the loops. Then she stops, rocking slightly from side to side as she looks up and takes in his lust-filled gaze.

Kylo steps back and starts to unlace his boots.

"Show you?" he asks, his head now bent low as if he was bowing to her. "Where did you get these ideas to begin with? The harem?"

Oh don't mention that awful place now. Or preferably ever.

"The book," Rey mumbles, pushing aside a flash of annoyance.

"Book?"

He stands and moves to unbutton his shirt but doesn't. Rey waits impatiently. The longer it takes for him to get undressed, the more her doubts about his whole thing flourish.

"The one you gave me," she clarifies quickly. Will he just take his clothes off already?

Another pause, and then he smirks. "Oh. Right. I guess I'd forgotten."

He catches her chin, and his kiss is sweet and over far too soon.

"Show me what you've learned then, dear wife. Show me as long as it's _on your terms_."

So now he's into the idea then? Didn't take too much to sway him. And damned if he wasn't a karker for forgetting all about that damned novel of decadence. It had been plaguing her thoughts for days on end and he didn't even remember he was the one to torment her with it?

Still, a fresh wave of uncertainly floods her. Rey isn't sure she can do this. The moments keep change from superheated mindless need to- to something very awkward and aware.

"How?"

"Help me undress, darling. Then take off your robe and lay down."

'Her terms' perhaps, but Rey is still very grateful for him guiding her. The book had made it seem so easy, but it had also said other things as well.

"Why lay down?" she asks, stumbling for time. "The book said that you should stand and I-"

Another kiss, and when Kylo stands he draws her hands up to his now half-opened shirt.

"That _book_ of your is very short on the idea of romance, my darling."

No further explanation. Rey's hands start to shake rather badly as she works on his shirt buttons. Pity the wine had spilled, another drink would do wonders for her racing nerves right now.

He helps her slide the fabric down his arms and Rey sits back down, glancing up only briefly to admire his bare chest. Why did her husband have to be so kriffing good looking? It was hardly fair. What sort of a chance did that give her?

"Lay down," he tells her, changing the rules slightly.

Rey nods mutely, her mind going blank as she drops back against their bed. He takes off his pants and any underwear he might have had in one go. Her heart feels like its about to break out of her chest and Rey doesn't even try to resist her shiver as she watches him stroke himself, his hand lazily working up and down his hard length. His eyes are boring into her own but she can't look away from his cock. She'd thought about it. Quite a lot recently. But as badly as she'd wanted to get to this moment now the urge to run away has never been stronger.

"Kylo..."

Her voice doesn't even begin to carry. She's surprised he can hear her at all.

"Yes, Mango? What is it?"

She groans, burying her face in her hands. He must be very good at reading her. At knowing _exactly_ when to crack a joke to diffuse the tension before she can't stand it anymore.

The bed dips as his weight settles next to her. Rey can feel the heat of all his bare skin burning through this thin fabric of her robe and nightgown. She keeps her face hidden by her fingers as she feels him untie the knot of silk at her waist. Her robe is parted, sliding as far off her shoulders it can with her laying down. Then the front laces of her nightgown are next, her husband's nimble fingers opening the front and skimming along the space between her breasts.

"You're breathing very hard, Rey."

He purrs it and Rey squirms, desire fanning fresh along her limbs.

"It feels like I'm not breathing at all."

She has to gasp it, her voice so shaky. A gossamer of movement against her left breast and she cries out as those perfect lips wrap around her nipple. His teeth lightly graze her as he pulls back, his hands gently wrapping around hers to draw them away so he can look at her.

"Do that again and you'll wake the whole camp up," he teases.

He lets her go to toy with her other breast and the world seems to spin. Rey looks down, staring at her chest which is now bared to her navel. Both her breasts have bloomed into hard peaks and she's shocked to see how dark and rosy her nipples have become from just his slightest touch.

Then she looks up and they simply stare at each other, their eyes locked and all the questions and doubts passing from her needlessly.

"What did your lovely book say to do now, Rey?"

His hands skims, lightly pulling the fabric of her gown back to cover her.

"It said- it said I would need to arouse you."

His eyebrows raise and there's that boyish hint of mischief again.

"Done."

"And then I- I-"

Rey can't think. She literally can't. Forming a sentence is utterly beyond her, and Kylo smiles as he rolls her onto his side. Then he falls back himself, taking his cock in his hand again. Rey swallows, reaching for him in staccato movements. He wraps his palm around her, guiding her down until she envelopes his hard length.

He feels so incredibly hot and hard and smooth in her hand. Rey's hips shimmy, the pressure in her swelling ever more as together they start to stroke him. His cock is… she's never seen an aroused man before. Naked men, yes. Or she supposes that awful site of the redheaded general in the harem with the sisters. Rey hadn't looked then, but she looks now. Memorizes the curve of him. The veins of him. The way his breath hitches and his length seems to almost jump when his tight grip on her hand brings her palm up to his tip.

Her husband must be very large. It doesn't seem like this could fit inside her.

"Rey."

His head is thrown back and his eyes are half-closed. He's mostly doing this to himself, his hand guiding hers and showing her everything from the grip to the pace to when she should twist.

Then he pulls back and rolls on top of her, locking her in the cage of his arms. Her hand is still on his length and there's a challenge in his eyes that's belied by the smirk on his too full lips.

Damn those lips. Rey kisses them sloppily, twisting her free hand into his hair as their tongues play together. She tries her best to stroke him just like he'd shown her. Their position is a little awkward. She can't quite seem to make him moan and shake like she had before.

Kylo's eyes are almost fully dilated when they finally pull apart from their kiss. She wants him to look at her like that forever.

A slightly firmer grip and she strokes with an upward motion, gliding her hand from root to tip. _That_ gives her the reaction she'd been hoping for. The jolt that seems to run through him matched with a buck of his hips into her hand.

"Rey."

Her name sounds practically pornographic with the way he moans it. Or actually it _was_ pornographic, wasn't it? Rey smiles then, her nerves fluttering back through her as she watches him enjoy her touch. The book, however, had been very clear on the importance of some sort of slickness to be used during this act. It had offered a recommendation of different oils, none of which they had, though another option had also been presented.

"Lay down," she says. Her free hand had been carding through his now sweat-damp hair. His eyes had been sliding shut with pleasure but now he looks at her with renewed intrigue.

Her hand leaves him -both of her hands - and Kylo sort of flops down to his side next to her. He reaches up to stroke her cheek and Rey pushes at his shoulder, nudging him to turn onto his back.

Their next kiss is a little sloppy. A little less controlled. Rey secretly loves it. Loves that she was the one making him like this. That her hand on her husband brought him to this state, and it seems only fair after all the times he's tormented her that she keeps going.

Half-drunk on power and the high of the moment, Rey straddles him. His erection presses firmly against her petite rump through the thin fabric of her nightgown and he stares at her with something akin to pure adoration as she leaves his mouth to look down at him.

"Show me how to do this, too," she asks.

Kylo nods, his eyes glazed. She's not sure if he fully understands her meaning, but Rey's about to make it extremely clear. His stubble tickles her lips when she kisses his jaw, and his hands fist in her hair as she starts to work her way lower.

A particularly long a drawn out expletive laced with her name rewards her when she reaches his chest and scoots further down on him, her weight now resting on his upper thighs.

Then he must remember that he's supposed to be teaching her something. Reading in a book about how to please a man with her mouth was one thing, now she was about to be confronted with the rather daunting looking task in real life. She looks up to him over the sculpted planes of his stomach and sharply heaving chest. Kylo tries to give her that smirk o his, but there's absolute hunger in his eyes. Desperation as well, as if part of him wasn't yet convinced this was really real.

"How do I-"

"Hold the base with one hand, stroke with the other, and then use your tongue when you're ready. If you want to."

That last part is added on quickly and after a second's pause. Rey smiles despite feeling like her stomach is about to jump right out of her throat. She grips him like he told her to, then turns her head from one side then the other trying to figure out the best angle of approach.

"Lots of tongue, no teeth. The head is more sensitive then the shaft."

Rey nods, only half hearing him. The book had said basically the same thing. That, and the slicker her saliva makes him the better it will feel for him. But what it hadn't told her was how to overcome her nerves and go in for that all important first taste.

Her head refuses to cooperate. Her mouth goes dry. Her hands start to stroke him. That part's alright. That part she's already broken past her fears.

"Rey." His hands had been tugging knots in her hair, but now they loosen. One of them strokes her hair behind her ear, and the other catches her chin to make her look up at him "You don't have to do this."

Rey wants to do this. She really does. Tonight may have started off with her wanting to get him out of her system. Wanting to show him she can be just as much and everything more than those _other ones_. Now though? Now she wants to make him feel everything that she can.

Rey gently pulls her chin free. His hand on her head guides her down and she wonders if he's even aware that he's doing that. Up this close she can see the smooth texture of his shaft. How that heavy looking blue vein running along the bottom must pulse with his heartbeat. Rey swallows, rolling her tongue in her mouth and trying to bring up any saliva that she can. Head or shaft? Shaft. Make it easier on her moving hands.

Kylo groans as she laps at him, the first stroke of her tongue wide and broad. His hand on her head tightens and Rey can see from the sides of her vision how he bunches the other into the sheets.

Another lap. Then another. Kylo sighs throatily and her pulse races even more. She's really doing this. It's really happening. And it's not bad, either. Not even half bad.

She pulls her head back a little. The hand stroking him can squeeze tighter now that it has something to help with the possible chafing. Kylo almost seems to swell right before her eyes, but she must be imagining that. What she's _not_ imagining, however, is the way his hips rock, pushing himself forward with each stroke of her palm against him.

This is… _fun_. Playing with him like this is actually quite enjoyable. Nerve wracking, yes, but getting better with each hoarse plea or praise that she can coax from him.

When she takes his head between her lips Kylo's hand grips her hair tight, holding her in place and not letting her go too deep. His hips work faster now, pumping himself into her working hands and now mouth.

Rey starts to lose herself to this moment. Lose herself to the rhythm their shared movements take on. She focuses only on what she's doing with right here and now,a d not all countless fears that she'd faced since walking into their tent tonight. Kylo's breaths are short and hoarse, his moans filling her ears and eating her blood more than she'd thought possible.

"Ah-ah! Alter- _nate_."

His hand pulls her head up and Rey instinctively knows what he wants. She laps at his oh so soft skin again, bathing it wetly with her tongue so her hands can begin again with renewed vigor. Then she takes the tip of him back in her mouth and rolls her tongue in a circle. His hands tighten, the one on the bed sheets next to her head is gripping so hard his knuckles turn white. A very good sign, so Rey does it again. She vaguely remembers that she was supposed to do something with that vein along the underside, but right now she can barely remember hr own name let alone the specifics of a depraved book she could only read a few sentences at a time.

It doesn't seem to matter now, though. Not at all. Her grips tightens, rotating in a half circle like he'd first showed her. When she laps at the very tip of him the unique flavor of him coats her mouth.

Rey doesn't mind it. Not at all. She half loves it. Half loves _him._

She moans and Kylo curses abruptly, his hand tightening and pulling her away before she can go down for another taste.

He flips them and Rey's in his arms again faster than she can even realize. Kylo pins her under him and time seems to stand still for that moment. Then he leans forward, hesitating imperceptibly and kisses her.

Rey moans, her hands tangling in his hair. Stroking his back. Clawing at his shoulders. She felt as frantic and sloppy as this kiss. Unrequited lust coils at her, and she can feel his hand pounding on his own length between their bodies. His kiss gets more urgent, his movements more insisting. They moan together when his other hand finds her between her legs. He strokes her through the now soaked fabric of her panties, and despite everything Rey still blushes when he breaks their kiss to bring his fingers up to the candlelight.

"Kylo," she whines. The room is too hot. She's burning up. Every part of her touching him wants more and more and more.

"Just checking," he breathes, that boyish smile lighting up his eyes before he takes her lips.

It feels like he's devouring her, her every breath captured and her every moan claimed by his mouth on hers. Rey grips his shoulders as his messy kisses drift down to her neck. His hand is still working himself between them, and the guttural sounds of his grunts in her ear are all the warning she has.

When he spills himself its with a sharp heave of his back. Her name falls from his lips and streaks of heat pool against her thighs as his climax coats her legs.

Rey whines, utterly beside herself. Kylo starts to tremble in her arms, though, and she guides him to lay next to her. Whatever he says in lost against her neck, and Rey shushes him. Part of her feels cheated. Part of her… awakened. The book hadn't been completely specific, but they can't be done yet. They just can't be.

"What happens now?" she whispers.

Kylo, her big hulking beast of a husband, doesn't answer for a moment. His breathing is harsh and he holds her so tight she might snap if she tries to get away. Her fingers card through his midnight dark hair. That feels like what she's supposed to do now. Like the right thing.

Kylo swallows, his breath coming more steady as he recovers and Rey makes it clear she's not going anywhere.

"Now?"

"Mhmmm."

Her whole body is strumming. And sticky. She's a damned mess and he can't just leave her like this, can he?

"Now, Rey," he pulls himself up, his hands now caging her between them once more. "Now it's your turn. I hope you brought your mango."

She blinks. Frowns. Impossible man.

"I don't even know what that means."

Maybe not, but the return of his cocky grin gives her a clue.

"Well then darling, you're about to find out."

When he kisses her then, Rey knows she doesn't stand a chance. And just for tonight, she doesn't want to.

* * *

author's note:

Hard to say whether Kylo or Rey needed that more, amiright?

And this was part 1 of 2! Next time it's Rey's turn! Usually it's Rey that gets off first in these sorts of first sex scenes, but I thought I'd be a little different and have Kylo show her the ropes. And yes, that was a very tasteless double entendre ;)

I was originally going to have all the sexiness in one chapter but then there are two scenes that happen after Rey's moment and we're already at 5k about so… 2 parter. Otherwise I'd have to have like a monstrous 9k sex scene chapter (which I've certainly done before, good golly). This also gives us something to look forward to next time!

Speaking of, I'm going to take a little time off from both this and horizon to horizon until like November 2-3rd just because it's almost NaNoWriMo time and I'm way behind with preparing for that. I'm doing… a bunch of fanfic updates, maybe a SW 1-shot, and some non-fanfic stuff like sexy dark fae story sort of in the same vein as Lost Little Lamb but not that extreme since Amazon and iTunes get huffy about dub-con, and my first JAFF (aka. commercial Jane Austen fan fiction, it's a thing and I've been convinced to give it a try!). So busy November and 50k+ ahead of me! *plays Rocky theme*

And, as always, you can find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter Ava_Avdal!

* * *

comment replies:

kdobrole5 – Oh thank you! I'm really glad you like my writing! This fic didn't start off as a slow burn, but it was first only supposed to be 3 chapters so things just started changing from there! Thanks for commenting!

Ldsrsc - heh, well… yeah. But I hope this and the next chapter made up for that cliffy!

Paul Lenzen – Interesting huh? Well Kylo certainly seems to think so too! And Rey, well she just has an itch that REALLY needs to be scratched. Thanks as always for commenting!

.Feathers – You may be right not to trust the caravan, Rey surely doesn't either! The bodyguards, well they were redshirts afterall… but there may be more to their story still ahead ; ) Rey's hormones kind of made the decision to seduce her husband for her. She tried to fight them but… didn't. Thanks so much for commenting!

ToughSpirit- haha, don't worry, they didn't get interrupted… yet!

Anoha- Oh yes, Rey blames that book for all of this. The book made her read it again and again and put all these ideas in her head. Totally all its fault!

Benfan1- thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for commenting too!


	24. The Playboy Prince and the Virgin Wife

"You're shaking like a nervous virgin."

Kylo's lips felt so damned hot against her skin Rey wouldn't have been surprised if they left behind burns in their wake.

"Sh-shut up."

Rey wasn't good with words right now. Words were hard. Especially when she was around her husband. He had been alternating between kissing her neck and her lips. The latter felt swollen by now, so thoroughly kissed and worshiped that surely bruises were to come next.

"Afraid, darling?"

Every time Kylo would try to dip his head lower, Rey would tighten her fingers . His perfect, inky dark hair. She usually quite loved the feeling of it slipping through her hands but right now? Now, Rey wasn't sure if she wasn't about to spontaneously combust.

"You're safe with me, Rey. You know that, right?"

She could stop his head, but not his hands. They were roving along her sides, stroking her waist before gliding down to her hips to play with the undersides of her breasts. She'd let him draw her nightgown fully off her. It was discarded somewhere by her feet or beyond, and not a single breath of cold night air seemed to effect her superheated skin.

"Rey?"

He hums it against her collarbones, and her fingers tightened. Oh yes, spontaneous combust seemed very much on the table. Something that could genuinely, actually happen.

And not the only thing that could actually happen tonight.

"Do you want to stop?" he asks.

Rey shakes her head. She's very uncomfortable in a certain place of her body. If they stop now she's not entirely sure what to do about that discomfort. That, and in a very real way she wants to go through with this. Whatever reasons she had told herself have gone out the door, now Rey had to admit to herself that she really wants her husband to know her in this way.

"Okay," he says softly.

His hands skip across her sides again, drawing out a breathy gasp from Rey as she shifts, her back arching against Kylo's chest as if she was both trying to get away and draw him closer. He chuckled, his teeth nipping at the flesh of her ear. The vibrations of that rippled all along her skin, sinking so deep in her veins Rey could swear their hearts were beating in perfect rhythm together right at that moment.

Her fingertips drag against his shoulders, pulling him on top of her. The book had- it had some pictures. He should be on top of her, right? Or not, there were certain variations, but that 'Classic Posture' seemed the most fitting right now.

Kylo lips moved down, sucking on the fleshy bits of her neck before mouthing shapes over her collarbone. It sort of tickled, but not nearly as much as his hands had when they had roved up her sides.

But between the two of them, Rey giggled. She couldn't stop herself. Kylo pulled back with the most infinitely smug look on his face.

"You're very fidgety tonight, dear wife. If I didn't know better I would say you're eager for us to continue."

Eager? Yes. Well… _yes_.

"What..."

Her voice faded and Kylo raised an eyebrow, propping his chin on his palm in a portrait of waiting.

"Darling?"

His lips push out as if he's pouting. Too boyish for his own good, or _her_ own good to be truthful.

"What will it feel like?" she finally asked.

His damnable smirk only widened.

"For you or me? Because I can only speak on the latter, and I would wager I'm likely to have a pain in my wrist come morning."

Rey blinked. That… huh?

Kylo tutted and she schooled her expression. If he was going to be smug about all this then he could... keep going.

"You've never had an orgasm," he explains. "Never even touched yourself. Dear wife, you are a conundrum for me."

He bent down as if to kiss her, but pulled back when she started to draw her head to meet his.

"Rey," he continued, "you were made for pleasure. You're beautiful and pure and too flawlessly perfect for someone like me to sully with my tongue."

Her breath caught in her throat. Tongue, eh? That first page of the book. He'd left his note there. She couldn't stop thinking about it. And then he'd forgotten all about it, but _she_ certainly hadn't.

What he said about her wasn't right, though. How could she possibly live up to that? She was the sum of her flaws, for better or worse, but what would happen when he finally realized that?

"Too perfect?" she breathed.

Kylo smiled. He had dimples in his cheeks when he did. Subtle ones, but they were there. Rey felt her own lips pricking up as she looked at them.

"Absolutely too perfect to be sullied by me," he agreed. "But can I touch you anyhow?"

A tightness and a warmth seeped through her, and she couldn't deny either what she felt or the sudden surge of nervousness that fell in its wake as it washed through her.

"One word, darling," he promised, placing a shockingly chaste kiss over her racing heart. "One word and I'll forget all about this. You can stay pent up and unsatisfied. Gods know that you've done that enough to me over the eternity of our marriage, it seems only fair to leave you _wanting_.."

He punctuated that last word with his lips pressed to her sternum. The place itself wasn't exactly the most erotic, but Rey closed her eyes regardless. He was moving down her body. Kissing every inch. His head full of that gorgeous dark hair of his was drifting drifting drifting.

That tickled, too. Why couldn't she keep herself together?

And her husband's damnable smirk only widened.

One of his hands stroked her face and Rey swallowed. His fingers grazed her neck, ghosting over a lightly sore patch that brings a smile to his face when he sees it. Then they drifted lower, stroking along her arm.

"Hmmmm."

His chest rumbles. Rey closes her eyes, letting him twine his fingers with her own. Carefully he unwraps them from their death grip on his hair. First one hand, then the other.

He lets go and his thumb traces her lips. Open your eyes. That was his silent message, and Rey complies with a shaky sigh. Her hands are still suspended in the air next to him, and Kylo guides them down to his shoulders with a smirk.

"You'll like this, Rey. I promise that you will."

 _Oh gods_ he kisses her collarbone. Somehow that does more to her that anything else yet. Which may be ridiculous given that she'd taken him into her mouth only a few minutes before, but ridiculously this feels even more intimate. Because she's not in control anymore. He is.

"Kylo!"

His mouth is nipping and sucking at the bony spanse right above her breasts. He's taking his sweet time going lower, though. Infuriating, and Rey wonders if he can feel her heart beating so fast? It's thundering through her veins like a galloping mare, threatening to break free and make her cry every wanton gasp and plea that's building in the walls around it.

"I think this will be very good for us." His tone holds a great deal of conviction. "Good for the strength of our marriage. Give us another way to work through our differences than argue."

His breath ghosts just above her left nipple. Rey's mind is rapidly shutting down, too many emotions and sensation having it hiss and sputter irregularly around whatever thoughts she was trying to form.

"Kylo-"

The most delicate of kisses is placed against it and Rey twists, a knot growing deep in her stomach.

"Something on your mind, darling?"

He takes the peak in his mouth and Rey shudders from head to toe. Her back naturally arches against him, pressing herself forward into his touch even if-

"Gods Kylo! You're too much for me!"

One of her hands sinks back into his hair, holding his head in place as his lips work wonders on her. The other rakes at his back. His rich chuckle in answer makes stars bloom behind her tightly clenched eyelids.

"Welcome to my world, darling. It's only fair you get to know the same torment I feel around you."

His head moves, her hand dragging along with him. When he starts to kiss then lap at her other breast Rey has to bite her lip to stop from crying out. It's not fair. He's too damned good at this. She doesn't stand a chance at all, does she? That spot in her lower belly twists, aching to not be ignored any longer.

"More," Rey manages to gasp.

Her heart is pounding too hard, but she can feel his laugh even if she can't hear it. She writhes, every part of her skin that touches the fabric of the sheets below her seems to shiver.

Then a sudden bite against her right nipple really does make her cry out, her hips bucking up and her voice breaking through the hushed murmurs she had been indulging in before.

Kylo pulls back, cradling her breasts in each palm. The cool night air prickles where his kisses had left wet.

"You know, Rey, I've thought about this."

She's breathing too fast. He's letting her catch up. Rey blinks at him, unseeing.

"I bet you have," she manages to sigh.

Kylo smiles then, and there's something oddly sweet about it compared to his previous hungry gaze.

"I've thought about how I would make love to you for our first time."

Now _that_ makes her heart skip a beat. She starts to shakes her head, her mind reeling as the words begin to form. Kylo dismisses them with soft press of his thumb to her lips.

"There are many ways to make love, Rey. Darling virginal wife. I can keep you as sweet and pure as you like, or maybe that's already done and gone with."

Her cheeks start to burn. This little repressive calming her enough to the point that the memory of their recent wickedness starts to push at the edges of her thoughts. Kylo tuts, his hand now cradling her cheek before he places a surprisingly chaste kiss against her lips.

"You always look so embarrassed, darling."

He pulls back and it's not fair. She wants him to kiss her forever and then longer still.

"I'm shy," she offers.

His smirk returns, growing with Rey's renewed blush.

"You're wearing me on your skin, Rey."

She was… well Rey hadn't even begun to come to terms with what they had done together just a few minutes before. It had been her idea to begin with, but she was still reeling in disbelief that she'd let it go so far.

"Shall I tell you how I will do it?" Kylo asks. "When the time comes? Would you like me to tell you what I have planned for you?"

His head starts to work down, alternating kissing a line of fire down her abdomen and pulling back just enough to speak. Her own slickness is mixing with his pilled essence along her inner thighs. Rey makes some sort of noise in answer. What sort, she really couldn't say.

"I'd start with kissing you senseless," he murmurs, his hair tickling the underside of her breasts. "But I think I've already done that part, haven't I?"

Another breath and two more lower and Rey twists both her hands tightly into the sheets.

"Then I would undress you. Kiss every inch of flesh that's never been kissed before. Not kissed by anyone. I get to be the first to do this to you."

His lips press just above her navel. Rey shivers, trying to lose herself in how this feels.

"I know that as a virgin you'll need… special care."

His lips dart lower still. Rey squeezes her messy thighs together tight as they can go. There's only a tiny corner of the bedsheet draped over her strategically for separation.

"I'll need to make you come." His fingers toy with the edges of the sheet. Rey would swallow if her mouth wasn't too dry. "Several times, preferably. No, most definitely."

He pools it aside, letting the soft fabric pool around her hips. His palm skims her, pulling it aside so he can see her. She's not opening her legs for him, though. If she did, she might very literally die right here and now.

His warm sigh tickles against the apex of her legs. He's kissing right above there, now. Rey yanks at the bedding, desperately holding onto a thin line of control.

"The first time I'll have you climax is on my tongue."

His weight shifts, though his mouth remains right where it is. Rey feels him reach down to the bottom of the bed and finds her ankles.

"Then I'd use my fingers." He lifts one of her legs up and draws it over his shoulder. A curtain of pure need seems to fall all around them, blocking the whole rest of the world out. "One. Then two. Maybe you could take three, maybe not."

She's not really listening to him. Probably she should, but she just can't now. Not when he's gently opening her, trying to spread her to him so he can make good on his promises.

"I'd bring you over the edge again with my fingers. There's a lot I can do with them and still keep you so pure and sweet."

He picks up her other leg, the one that had been pinned straight under him, and wraps it around his hips. Rey feels like such a damned mess. All fraying intentions and needful skin and lungs desperately falling short of letting her breathe.

"And then, Rey? Do you know what I would do then?"

Rey shakes her head, unable to speak or look away. He has her hypnotized, those endless dark depths of his eyes…

He breaks their hold. Rey shivers as one of his hands strokes along the inside of her leg only to get caught between them with her tight press of her thighs together.

"And then I would ask if you want to continue."

His free hand lifts her hips. It's not until that moment that Rey realizes how much she had been squirming underneath him.

"Do you?" he asks, and gods the things his breath does to her now. "Do want us to continue?"

"Yes." She says it without thinking. Because thinking is pointless when there's only one thing left in the universe that will keep her alive.

His weight shifts, head moving lower. She closes her eyes.

"I've wanted you to the point of pain, Rey. You're my own personal torture. Every moment I'm with you makes me suffer in ways I never want to live without again."

Rey felt weightless, the whole room spinning. Why was this so much worse then when she was doing this to him? She'd wanted to. The urge to somehow _be with him_ had been strong enough to block out all her sensibilities. This was… different. Too far out of her control.

"Mhmmm," Kylo hums, his lips ghosting right above her pubic bone.

His hand was still trapped between the vice of her thighs. She wasn't letting him move it an inch, not a millimeter, but his palm squeezed her muscles in imploring pulses.

"Rey." His voice was light, teasing, lilting. He wanted her to look at him. He nibbled her hip bone. Kisses the outside of where her leg met her ass.

Breathing was becoming increasingly impossible. Rey cracked her eyes open just a slit to look down at him.

Kylo looked rather devilish. Wicked and yet like he was having the time of his life.

"Let me touch you," he asks.

She shook her head. Kylo shifted his weight to be supported on his elbow. The surface of the bed dipped slightly, making her slide even closer to him. With the hand that wasn't her thigh's prisoner he reached out and took one of her own. She'd been fisting the bedsheet to the point it was a miracle it hadn't ripped yet.

Kylo entwined their fingers together, holding her tightly, and gave her a double bounce of his eyebrows that made her frown. Then he dipped his head down and kissed her as low on the apex of her legs as her closed thighs would let him.

Rey squeaked. Sucked in an urgent breath and let it out with a whine as he pulled at her. Gently she feels him spread her with his thumbs, then his lips graze her. She makes a strangled noise, her knuckles crackling with how hard she's gripping the sheet. He kisses her _there_ and Rey's sure he's wrong. He doesn't know what true torture is. This is it right now, and it only sharpens with each beat of her heart pushing pure chaos through her veins.

Next, Kylo hums. That part is good. The rest of it feels ticklish. Strangely unstoppable.

A wide and wet lap along the length of her center makes her eyes pop open, his name cried out and sucking the remainder of the air out of her lungs.

It had been pure sensation. The knot in her belly tightens even if she isn't completely sure if she likes this or not.

"Shhhh," he soothes. He drops her hips with one hand but they stay up anyhow, so much tension now making her body hold rigid in place.

His lips against her- well, her _pussy_ \- felt too strange. Rey arching her back, itching to get away. Or maybe pull him close. She wasn't sure what she needed, so she pictured in her mind what she'd done to him. Taking him into her mouth just as he-

"Nhnnn..." His tongue lapped at her and Rey crunched her nose, absolutely refusing to open her eyes and look. The whole world could be on fire around them and she wouldn't open her eyes. Would hardly even notice because he just did it again and a very confusing blend of ick and new pleasure shot through her veins.

"Relax."

He whispers it right against her and stars sparkle behind her yes. Rey lets him move her legs farther apart and a whine eeks its way out of her throat.

"Eager much?" he teases.

Another lick. Her breath keeps stuttering. Does he really think she can answer him right now?

His hand holding her own squeezes, grounding her, and the other that had been on her thigh moves up. He strokes her in ways that almost make her curious enough to peek and see what he's doing.

Then his thumb presses at the very top of her slit and delicately pushes up. He lips wrap around a spot and Rey _yelps_. Immediately cringes, her whole body locking up and trying to curl around him.

He laughs. The feel of that is too much. She folds over herself, eyes still locked as tightly as they can, and her other hand that had been throttling the sheet tangles itself in his hair.

She pulls him off, yanking his head back as shivers roll along every nerve.

"Calm down, little thing," he purrs. "You act like no one's ever touched your clit before."

"No one _has_ , you- you-"

Rey has to growl out each word. Being both this turned on and this suddenly angry is a dizzying mix, because he _bloody well_ already knows all that already.

"No?" There's a coy lift to that one syllable. Rey shakes her head, refusing to play his game. She knew that, if she opened her eyes, he'd be wearing that blood-boilingly entitled smirk of his.

A wash of air across her slick skin makes her whine louder than before). He blows on her because she wouldn't let him touch her. He does it again and pure desire surges up, trying to take over.

"Rey?"

Little by little she cracks open her eyes. Stares at a triangular space of darkness at the ceiling of their tent.

"Go on," she whispers.

Kylo hums as he goes down her. His voice adds to the tingles, but he catches Rey's hand before she can bring it up and bite down on her fist.

"Kylo..." she whines, fighting him statically as he brings her hand down to his workspace between her legs.

He presses the pad of her middle finger against _that_ spot and all themselves fight goes out of her at once. This was so embarrassing. So… so not so bad. The book had said- something- something something. Oh _whateve_ _r_ , that stupid book had tried to explain but rational thoughts were long a thing of the past by now.

He presses his palm flat over her fingers, moving her hand along her own skin in heavy circles. The world seems to spin on its axis, the unique pleasure Rey was feeling threatening to have her careening right out of her own head.

Then Kylo's mouth goes back, his tongue lapping lower at her slit while their hands worked together. She could feel how wet she was even if he was cleaning it all away with every scalding path he made against her. The way he would hum, too. That was _really_ nice. Rey had never felt so out of her body. Every vibration against her made stars bloom around the edges of her sight until she was a shaking, trembling mess.

Some sort of strangled, growled noise was wrangled out of her when she felt his tongue slip slicker than an eel inside her entrance. It felt squiggly and her hips twisted, writing in a figure eight. She wasn't sure if she liked that, or if it just felt too damned foreign.

Another hum from her husband and the knot of pure desire that had been blooming inside her stomach seemed to pulse right along with him. It took her several shaky breaths before she could catch herself long enough to speak.

"K-Kylo, are you-" another lap, followed by his tongue pushing deeper and Rey forgot everything and anything else until his muffled voice shimmered through her again. "Are you _humming a tune_?"

She managed to squeak the words out, her legs convulsing and kicking at his back. Kylo pulled away then, giving her a chance to chose breathing over suffocation.

He rested his chin on her hip bone and smiled up at her.

"Humming a _jaunty_ tune, no less," he clarified. Kissed the palm of her hand before resting it on her belly. "I could do this for hours, darling wife." Then his brow tightened as he looked at her more closely. "But you couldn't, could you? How much longer can _you_ last?"

Rey didn't answer. Couldn't. She looked at him in a daze as he moved up to lay next to her. He rested his head on his palm and Rey blinked when brought his fingers up first to his own lips then seemed to change his mind and pressed them against her own instead.

"Too much?" he asked.

She didn't know what he was asking her, but she shook her head. Every part of her from the lips down wanted him to continue. Was practically purring for the contact. If he tried to stop this now she would kill him. Throttle him. Pin him to the floor and take him deep.

Rey let him slide his fingers into her mouth and glide them along her tongue. Her ears started to ring when he replaced them with his lips and devoured her shocked cry with his kiss as he reached down and started to stroke again.

This time she gripped his shoulders with both hands, one of her legs thrown over his hips as he moved on top of her. Her body surged up against him, desperate for more contact, but he just kept kissing her and kissing her as he lazily stroked along her slit.

Rey gasped when a single finger pushed against her entrance. It slipped inside her easily, but Rey still whimpered anyhow. Are they really taking this so far? She had told him to keep her a virgin, but- but they hadn't gone over exactly what that meant. And Rey suddenly couldn't care less when his finger pushed deeper and deeper.

" _Fuck_ ," she panted, tipped her head up to brush her lips against his but that was all the strength she had left in her.

"That's the idea, Rey." His kiss was better than hers. Hers hadn't counted. "How do you think my cock would feel in you?"

His cock? Gods. She tried to picture it. Tried to imagine how it would feel to have his length pushing into her and not just one single finger. It would be too much.

Far too much.

Wouldn't it?

His finger crooks, stroking along her inner walls and Rey writhes under him. It's such a strange and invasive feeling, but it's not long before he has her gasping again.

"Better, Rey?"

Stop talking. Just stop talking.

Rey tries to kiss him. It's more of an open-mouthed panting sort of thing, but Kylo drowns her sharper cry when he starts to ease a second finger inside her.

That one has a sharp pain to it. He must sense that because he goes very slowly, alternating between penetrating her and leaving to rub those same two fingers on her clit. Again and again. One, then the other. Rey feels that knot in her building, demanding she give it more attention.

When she can't stand it anymore she wraps her arms around his head and buries her face in his neck. Kylo hums again, his smile so wide she sometimes scrapes her forehead against his teeth as she writhes.

"You're close, aren't you Rey?"

He whispers it into her ear, and just the dark sound of his voice makes her muscles clench against his touch. She can't take any more than two fingers and even those are a strain, but Kylo doesn't seem to mind. He crooks them and strokes her at new angles, his thumb pressing on her clit and rolling it in circles.

"You need to come, Rey."

Rey bites into his shoulder to try and stifle the needy sounds she keeps making. Kylo tuts, giving her forehead a surprisingly chaste kiss.

"I-" No. Can't breathe. Too little air. She pulls away from his shoulder and lets her head flop back against the pillow. "I don't know how."

She's too besides herself to be offended when he laughs.

"You do, Rey. Trust me, you do."

She-

just-

fuuuuuuuck…

His fingers stroking a place inside her she didn't even know she had. It makes her whole body shake, desperate for something that was so close. She just need a little more. Round a corner. Fall off a cliff. More. Just. Karking. _M_ _ore_.

Then his hand slows. Stops. Fingers slide out from inside her.

Rey almost cries. Literally almost cries. But she's far too besides herself to speak, instead beats one of her palms against his shoulders and earns herself another deep chuckle that rattles along her whole body.

"I have an idea, Rey."

"W-what?"

He's talking. Why? Why is he talking and not touching her?

"Let's do it this way first, and then I'll give you a second one. Maybe a third."

Rey was about to yell at him. Or something. But his hand comes back, cupping her whole sex in his palm. He grinds his palm against her throbbing clit and all is forgiven as the world starts to shimmer again.

"Good girl," he praises.

"Sh- shut up."

She glares at him half-heartedly, but it takes him no time at all to bring her back to the crest of _something_ again.

"Close your eyes. Picture anything you want to, Rey, as long as it's me."

Smug bastard, but it's a wonderful idea. Almost as wonderful as his hand moving faster. He rubs her clit like he's trying to start a fire, and Rey isn't sure if she'll climb this damned wall of pleasure to the other side or her racing heart will give out first.

Picture anything? Rey pictures him fucking her. Pictures them making love right now. Tries to imagine how he would feel inside her. Now that his fingers aren't in her anymore she misses them. Ridiculous. She wants to come. Wants to get to there. Could she take all of him? Would they come together? What would that feel like?

Some instinctual part of her imagines exactly and with life-like clarity how it would feel to have his cock stretching her insides as he first penetrates her.

Rey comes screaming to that.

She breaks in two pieces, her lower body clamping tight and her upper throwing itself back and away. Kylo's lips wrap around one of her nipples and she smothers her second scream against her pillow.

Raw liquid heat oozes out of her, pushed by each wave of bliss her husband's skilled hands makes her feel. Not for long, though, because she's still wracking in the throes of it when his fingers slip inside her.

 _Oh_.

She's pulsing, her inner muscles seizing up as they have something to clamp again. Rey moans again, a short and strangled almost pained noise, as one finger becomes two and those two begin to relentlessly attack that spot inside her.

"Ky-lo..."

Rey can barely choke out the two syllables of his name as his fingers pump harder and harder. Any pain she might be feeling from the rough treatment is completely eclipsed by a new sense of profound need.

She feels like she can come again like this. Different, but the demands of her body are even more urgent. Dimly she can hear herself moaning. Soft wails of her husband's name mixed with wordless pleas. Part of her is coiling, begging him to continue. His fingers scissor inside her, and the sharpness of the sting she feels in her entrance only enhances the pleasure radiating across every nerve in her whole body.

"Focus, darling," Kylo coos, his fingers never easing in their relentless circles against _that spot_. "Concentrate on what you're feeling. Focus your mind _right here_."

He bends down and kisses her lower stomach. It's the flesh right above that spot that his hand is working so hard again. Every now and then his thumb flicks against her clit, and Rey instinctively tightens, squeezing him harder with every part of her.

Oh yes, she focuses. Can't focus on anything but clearly on that. Concentrates on the way that part of her she didn't even know existed makes her feel more alive than anything ever before.

Her second orgasm hits her even harder than the first. This time she crunches herself all around him, her whole body curling and dragging and clawing him closer. She wants him inside her. Not just his fingers, but everything. Wants him under her skin. In her very soul.

The sound his hand makes between her legs is beyond indecent. Had she really done all that? So _wet_.

And she's still pulsing. Still contracting. Shakes grip her now, and she starts to whine as his fingers just keep going.

"One more, Rey. You can do it. I know you're close."

Close? She's already _kriffing_ there. Already gripped by a physical sensation so sharp Rey feels on the verge of unconsciousness.

Then a third wave of pleasure grips her, drawing out the last of her breath from her lungs in short, desperate pants as she rides the crest of it before crashing down.

Time seems to stop. Rey drifts, blinking uselessly into the black of their dimly lit tent. When Kylo eases his fingers out of each and every one of her bones feels like it ceases to exist.

He flexes his fingers and rolls his wrist and Rey can still blush just a little.

When he kisses her there's nothing left of herself to give back. His palm is wet against her cheek. Who knew sex would be so _messy_?

"Good?" he asks as he pulls back.

Good?

I love you. I karking love you so much, Kylo Ren.

"Good," she breathes.

Her husband smiles. He hums as he takes her into the age of his arms. Maybe it's a jaunty tune. Probably. Rey couldn't care less. All that matters in this single moment suspended in time is that he's here with her.

* * *

All Rey wanted to do was hold onto her husband so tightly he could never leave her.

Not that he seemed like he was about to. Rey wrapped herself all around him, and Kylo seemed all too keen on indulging her. She buried her head against the bed-side of his neck, nearly smothering herself but she liked it there. His hair fell about them both like a veil, giving her a place to hide from the harsh world.

"Rey?"

Her name was a smug sounding hum against her ear. He was smiling, she could feel it in the tension of the cords of his neck against her face. Rey hugged him deeper, twining her arms around his neck or back or wherever she could reach. She pulled him half on top of her, snuggling in her all tucked away.

His laugh tickled the hair at the top of her head. Pleasure still strummed through her veins, but it was rapidly being replaced by urgency. She desperately needed something right now, but didn't know what that thing was.

One of his hands smoothed over her back. Rey didn't want that. She wanted him to grab her and squeeze. Crush her against him.

"Are you angry?" he asked, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper.

She shook her head, barely registering the meaning of his words. He was here. She was here. She had him. N one else.

"Well gods be praised," he hummed, "what a rare gift."

Silence. His weight was swaddling her in a very nice way. It was the only thing keeping her from completely losing her mind right now.

"My precious wife isn't angry with me, I wonder what I did to receive such an honor?"

Kylo? Shut up. Just shut up. Rey wasn't sure she could take his teasing right now.

Maybe he sensed that, because his fingertips had been playing at circles against her ticklish ribs but they stopped. He gripped her hip instead, giving it a firm tug closer and she nodded against his shoulder. Yes. _Exactly_.

"Are… are you upset?"

He sounded clueless. Worried, maybe.

Rey shook her head again. She wasn't sure what she was, but he seemed to be trying to help her through it anyhow.

"Hmmmm," his voice rumbled and Rey kissed his throat wherever shew could reach it. "Maybe we need to do this more often then. Morning, noon, and night. Have my mango for breakfast then throw down a blanket in the shade at lunchtime and tell the whole caravan to hold for us, my wife needs attending to."

Rey frowned. Then cracked up. She laughed all smothered and soft, but dug her top teeth a little into the meat of his shoulder to make sure he heard it.

Kylo's neck tightened in another smile.

"Ah, there she is. That's the Rey I know. Feel all better now?"

Well, maybe not quite, but Rey nodded. Kylo began to extract himself from her determined limbs, and she didn't make it too easy for him. Gave him a good, stubborn fight before he had separated himself enough to twist and reach behind them both.

He returned moments later and Rey let him part her legs just enough for him to gently swipe a piece of cloth between them. She wrinkled her nose, burying her face in the crook of her arm as he cleaned her up from their playtime.

He must have done the same for himself because, when he flipped her onto her side to aggressively spoon her, the places their skin touched had a distinctly less sticky quality than before. Not that Rey exactly minded _wearing him on her skin_ , but… it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. They could wash up properly in the morning, but now Kylo was already starting to breathe slower. She turned her head and he raised a sleepy eyebrow as he took her in.

"You know what, Rey? It's a dangerous thin for you to look at your husband like that."

His hand had been on her waist and he slid it up, lightly ghosting across her ribs and drawing a very ticklish shiver out of her.

"Never touch anyone else like this. No one. I don't care who they are. I'll leave you in a heartbeat if you do."

She hadn't mean to say it. Kylo's eyebrows raised, and Rey sighed against the wave of relief that spilled through her.

That… had been a long time coming.

Kylo's fingers drummed against her hip, each beat of them seeming to take an eternity.

"And if I don't?" he finally asks. "You'll stay then?"

Rey immediately tries to bury her face where he can't see her, but he catches her cheek in his hand. For a moment they simply stay there, looking at each other.

She shakes her head. No. She can't promise that. Not yet.

Kylo lets her go. Lets her head drop back to his shoulder.

"Never let another man touch you like this. No one. I don't care."

His voice is gruff and Rey closes her eyes. Tries to pretend and his hand drifting along the tops of her shoulders makes that so much easier. When he kisses her temple she almost coos, but not quite.

"Do you still feel like a virgin?" he asks.

Rey falters on her next breath. Does she? After what they had just done?

No. She doesn't doubt she'd bleed if she laid with another man, but that doesn't make her any more virginal. Kylo had taken something from her tonight she had so willingly given him, but Rey knows she'd taken a piece of him as well.

"Can we do this one day at a time, Kylo?"

The fingers at her hip stop their taps. Rey scuffles down his body, resting her head now against his heart. He clears his throat before he answers.

"Alright."

Deal done, then. One day at a time. Take every challenge on its own right and hope its not the one that breaks them both.

* * *

Truly?

Rey had never felt like this before.

It had nothing to do with… with the acts themselves or what her husband had made her body do. Or maybe not _nothing_ , but the way Rey felt now was all in her head. And it was beautiful.

Said husband was sleeping deeply. They were still both completely naked, and Rey wasn't sure which of them had twined themselves together first. Now she was resting on her side, pressed flush against his own, with her head on his chest and her top leg draped over then between his. Somehow sleeping like this felt even more intimate then when he had pushed his fingers inside her. _That_ had been both new and a little frightening, this was new and infinitely more terrifying.

Her traitorous cheeks burned. Just like they always did. This time, though, Rey hid them in the crook of her husband's shoulder, letting his own hair hide her too-obvious embarrassment.

His breathing changed to slightly raspier for a moment and then leveled out again. Rey looked up at him with a soft smile. It was impossible not to feel charmed right now. He had been… amazing. Rey had never let herself think what her first sexual encounter would be like before these last few days. Weeks, maybe. Because for the longest time of her life it had seemed like she never would have one, and that had been okay.

But now that this had happened Rey was so glad for it. Glad that it had been with Kylo because he was right, she wouldn't have wanted any other man alive to have this part of her. Not now and… and maybe not ever.

They were _married_. They'd done this properly. Rey didn't feel condemned at all.

No, if anything she was giddy. Drunk on the pleasure he had given her and the closeness it had brought between them.

Rey had always been told by certain undesirables in her early life that, in order to become a real woman, you first had to have sex. She had long abandoned that notion as balderdash. A woman was just like a man: one who would be judged by their actions and convictions, not any one specific physical act.

And yet- and yet Rey had never felt more womanly than she did right now. More in touch with a part of herself that she supposed had always been there all along. Touching her husband and being touched by him had been so natural. Tonight was honestly the best of her life, and there was still so much more to come.

Master Luke had told her once about 'beads on a string'. Life was short, he'd said, and moments of true happiness were like beads on a string. You will only have so many of them, so cherish each one as you add it on to your necklace of life.

It had been a little sappy. Rey hadn't understood fully what he'd meant when he'd told her, but now she thinks she does. Rey didn't _quite_ feel truly happy at this moment, but she came close.

The longer she lays there, the more her mind wanders. Kylo had barely stirred once since he'd fallen asleep, but now she's bright awake. Sleep is an impossibility because what if she wakes up and this had all been a dream? She would have lost this moment forever? It was worth hanging on to. She could rest later. They were safe here on this caravan. Rey didn't feel like they were, quite the opposite actually, but she had to keep telling herself that. This was the best they had had it since leaving the palace or maybe even before as well.

What would her and Kylo's life be like now? She hummed as she started to imagine, floaty images of the two of them together sweeping through her mind as she teetered on the cusp on awareness.

One month. She remembers that silly wager he had made on their wedding night. Something about how she had one month to decide if she could withstand being his bride, and if she couldn't then she was a free woman.

It hadn't been a month. She hadn't made it that far. Now she was listening to the steadfast beating of his heart to try and soothe her rambling mind into slumber. Oh gods how she loved the sound of his heartbeat. Strong and steady. Pure, almost.

Only for tonight, Rye will allow her mind to wander. Let herself picture all the things that could be between them if they were someone else.

She cuddles closer, so in love with that sound. Beat beat beat. His breath rocks against her too, rolling along the shared length of their bodies like she imagines ocean waves must feel. So foreign and free and _perfect_.

They could run away together.

They had run away together, but Rey meant forever. There were others who could be prince-then-emperor. Kylo didn't seem to want to position, and Rey didn't doubt that there were others who would do a better job of it even if he did.

Her husband had a true soul. He hid it well, but she knew it was down there. But could he one day be a good emperor? Rule with fairness and courage when so much of his self was muddled with emotion?

Of that, Rey wasn't sure. But if they ran away together it wouldn't matter in the slightest.

 _Really_ run away after they see his mother. Rey had promised him that. They would go to the ocean and Rey would see her waves and Kylo would see his mother. Some sort of no doubt terribly painful encounter with her new in-law would occur, and then Rey would somehow convince him to make a left when he was supposed to make a right. Zig when he was supposed to zag.

Maybe the Empress could help them? Perhaps Rey could even convince her to condone them? Kylo didn't want to rule. He might have played in the garden of his heritage, but Rey didn't doubt he wanted any of the responsibility that came with it. Maybe she could convince the Empress Leia to let them go then? She could find a more suitable heir-right to the throne. Someone who would really know how to govern a whole land and make it thrive. Someone who would free her and Kylo to run.

Run away and be free. A tabula rasa. Blank slate. Just them with their youth and energy out in the big world ready to take on anything.

Oh sure, their money would help. Kylo had brought a fool's fortune with him from the palace, and that wasn't even counting his ill-conceived gambling winnings from the caravan. They wouldn't be living in palace-worthy opulence, but they would be living well. Much better than Rey had ever had it before.

And maybe living with just a trace of humility will do her spoiled and arrogant husband some good.

They could just disappear. Start a new life together. Just the two of them.

Oh, and Dala. Her too. Rey had gotten rather fond of their third wheel, even if the whole concept of having a dependent was strange and weird to her.

Riding off into the moonlight. Rey sighs against Kylo's chest. His hand was on her hip and he unconsciously moved his fingers in his sleep to stroke her skin. Perfect. Too perfect.

When it would just be the two of them, they could have nights like this all the time. Spend endless hours exploring each others bodies. Rey had wicked plans for her husband. That book had given her so many ideas.

And of course they'd also make love properly. They could finally be joined as a husband and wife should, and one day they might even have children. A real family What a ridiculous concept.

Rey can't stop smiling. She cuddles Kylo closer, his hand stroking hip but the steady rise and fall of his chest telling her he's still deeply asleep. She's not though. No matter how much she'd like to join him in his dreams, every though comes to her unbidden. They would do everything together. Not just… intimate things, but romantic as well.

Romance.

Who has time for that? It doesn't exist. Or maybe it could for them.

The longer Rey lays there, lulled into a near delirium by her husband's breathing, the easier and easier it becomes to picture their future. Image after image spills into her mind, warming her to her core and slowly chipping away at the block of ice she had built around her heart.

In her mind they were dancing. They hadn't at their wedding, but they could have another. A private ceremony just between the two of them. Dancing and holding each other and she just knows _that_ Kylo would be whispering dirty things into her ear. Things that maybe she wouldn't be running away from.

Bliss. Simple as that.

Oh, and the next vision. They would be under the stars. Beyond sappy, but the nighttime sky held a special connection to them. They would be laying out on top of a dune somewhere, a rough blanket underneath them and their hands entwined. Rey would show Kylo all the constellations. Show him how she'd named them silly thins as a child. How she'd watch their path arching across the sky to count the months they were spending together just breezing by.

He could teach her how to fight. Rey already knew how to fight dirty, but he could show her his elegant and effortless movements. They could spar with each other and then… and then tear off each others clothes and make love right in the center of their training grounds.

Rey grins against her husband's shoulder. Presses a kiss to his flesh. There's a trace of his stubble rubbing against her forehead and she can't get enough of it. Enough of him. Life was good with him, even if he made it impossible.

The next sequence of images tumble out one after the other. Flashes and glimpses of happiness. Things her mind had only just begun to even think a possibility.

She would read to him again. She'd really enjoyed that. It had been their first truly peaceful and happy moment together.

They could choose a home together. Pick the land and build it themselves one block at a time.

Or even just something simple, like taking Dala out for a ride. She can almost picture the three of their silhouettes together, blacking out a fading sunset.

Or… bathe together. Kylo would tease her so. Telling her he just wanted tl get her wet. Rey would roll her eyes, but she'd let him join her. All the better to save precious water, of course.

And then-

And then a slip of a noise breaks Rey right out of her reverie.

She'd been half asleep, but in a heartbeat she was wide awake. Another noise and adrenaline sparked through her.

Something was- no, _someone._

The last time she had felt a fear like this was at her old home right before the assassins came.

She shoots bolt upright. Kylo grunts beneath her, and her hand falls to his shoulder to shake him awake.

"K-"

Rey doesn't get any farther than that before movement rushes at her followed immediately by pain blasting across the side of her head and sending her careening to the cold dirt floor.

* * *

author's note:

I'm baaack! Didja miss me?

And what, did you think I WASNT going to end this one a cliffy? C'mon now! ;)

Also pobably no one else noticed and I'm shooting myself in the foot for mentioning it, but yeah, I know I kept switching between past and present tense. Sorry. I've been trying to force myself into past for other projects and it doesn't come naturally to me at all.

ANYHOW, back to the chapter: it was originally supposed to have 3 more main scenes, but then that would have ended it on a note I didn't want it to. I think this ended at just the right note though, didn't it?

13 days to the final movie. Sniff sniff. This aint easy for me, lemme tell you...

* * *

Comment replies:

Demelza1999 - Soon? Not so soon, but I got it done and that's what matters right? I hope you liked this latest chapter even though you had to wait for it :)

Paul Lenzen – Oh yes, Kylo finally got some affection from his wife! And vice versa, though only time will tell what happens because of it. Thanks for commenting!

pobrediabla – I'm really glad you liked it! I had fun with these two chapters, writing this sort of thing si so much easier than a lot of writing. For the Rgoue One fic… well… I dunno. There's a bit of a checkered past with that particular story. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing with it, because I don't like to have incomplete fics out. We'll see! But I'm glad you liked it too, I'd figured everyone had forgotten about it by now : )

.Feathers – Aw no! I'm sorry! I had meant to get to this fic so much sooner but then all these real life things got in the way and I got carried off by a new project. I hope it was worth the crazy long wait though! Thanks for commenting as always! : )

ldsrsc – Rey's deeply in denial. She's pretty but been in denial about her feelings towards her husband since their wedding night when all he stole from her was a kiss. Right now she knows what she wants but is just too afraid to admit it to herself!

ToughSpirit – Heheh, yeah, they're saving the big event for a very different time in the story. I've got it all plotted out and I think that when they finally do the do it will be at the right moment for them both. You'll see! Thanks for commenting!

Benfan1 – Well I'm glad you liked part 1 and I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Thanks for commenting!


	25. Us, And Them

chapter summary:

Where Rey and Kylo face their enemies known and new.

* * *

The only thing louder than the ringing in Rey's head was her husband's bellowing.

No, Kylo did more than just bellow. He howled. Movement thundered all around her, and it took Rey a moment to realize that the reason she couldn't see was because she was in a tangled heap of her limbs and the bedsheets.

Then someone kicked her hard in her ribs and she cried out as their weight smashed on top of her.

"Enough!" Kylo shouted, and a moment later the weight was flung off of her.

More shouts. Angry men's voices, and the bottom felt like it fell right out of Rey's stomach. She knew what this was. _Who_ this was.

Rey struggled, nearly ripping the sheet in her efforts to get away from it. The tent was dark with only a small glimmer of moonlight pouring in from outside. Kylo shouted again, yelling something in another language. Angry words were spat right back at him in the same tongue, and that confirmed all of her fears.

The merchants. Those three damned merchants that had lost their gambling wins to Kylo.

Movement raced followed by a fleshy impact and Kylo grunted just as Rey scrambled up to her feet. Someone elbowed her hard, an iron grip sinking into her hair. They started to drag her and Rey shrieked, kicking down low by instinct and tripping her attacker.

Kylo was on him in an instant, the weight of his body barreling down on them both knocking all the air out of Rey's next cry.

"Let her go!" he shouted.

Another wet impact. Literally punching someone in the dark.

More shouting, hands pulled at her. Dragged Kylo off but the merchant clutching her hair held on tight and hauled Rey away with him.

She clawed blindly back just the tent flap opened and two more figures poured inside. Behind them was a torch of light, and a small crowd had formed outside. It was two of the caravan's guards and, judging by the ripples of commotion all around them, pretty soon more were to come.

Rey didn't miss the way all eyes first fell upon her and then Kylo. They were both completely naked, and with Rey's head being yanked back and both her hands fighting to hold onto her scalp she was no doubt giving everyone a very candid view. Kylo for his part didn't see to even notice. He had one of the merchants- the older one- in a headlock, while the other was picking himself up off the floor as blood poured freely from his broken nose. That meant the masked one was the one holding onto Rey, but when she tried to claw his hands free from her he only yanked harder.

Kylo gave a low growl, but the look in his eye was one of panic. Even the caravan guards halted in their steps, one of them extending his hand slowly in an almost placating gesture.

"Hurt her and it will be the last thing you ever do, krong," Kylo growls.

He didn't make a move to help her, though. None of them did, and the two other merchants looked first to her than each other.

"Let me go!" Rey muttered, her temper breaking as she struggled.

Then she felt it. The cold edge of the blade pressed against her neck. In the adrenaline shock of the moment she hadn't even noticed that her attacker was literally _holding a knife to her throat_ **.**

"Steady now," one of the guards said. He took a step forward and Rey could feel the masked man tighten up behind her. "There's no need for that."

Kylo hadn't moved. He was staring straight forward, not at her but at her attacker. The look in his eye sent a shiver down Rey's spine far sharper than even the blade now starting to cut into her skin.

"Let- let him go!" the Merchant with the bloody nose says. "You go first! We only came here for what's ours."

Kylo's glare tightened. Rey swallowed, a surge of dismay washing over her as the second guard actually helps the bloodied man to his feet instead of coming to her aid.

With jerky movements Rey lets go of her hands clawing at her attackers arm. She brings one of them down to cover her chest, wishing by all the gods that she was wearing some damned clothing. Two more caravan guards pushed through the entrance flap, and behind him was the tall figure of General Kamen. His glare was even icier and more wilting than her husbands, and Rey's cheeks burned with fire as soon their tiny tent was filled with guards and bystanders.

"Let. Her. Go." Kylo repeats.

His arm shifts, letting the older merchant he'd been holding. An agonizing moment stretches, tensions or Rey's own composure nearly snapping, before the knife at her throat slides away.

She's shoved roughly, thrown onto her hands and knees on the floor. A swift kick lands at her side, choking out a pained gasp. Kylo charges forward, crossing the small space before Rey can recover enough to wave him back. He lunges at he masked merchant, but two guards catch him first, tacking her husband to the ground.

The last guard, just _one_ of them, catches the masked merchant's shoulder and pulls him back away. The older merchant joins them, leaning in and Rey glares daggers as the three of them whisper something loudly in a language she can't bloody well understand. Kylo grunts, trying to throw the other guards off him and muttering what Rey assumes is every curse he knows.

Throughout all of this General Kamen remains silent, his steely glare shifting first from the merchants than to Kylo then finally setting on her.

"There have been many complaints about you both these last few days," he says, his sharp voice cutting through all the murmurs of the crowd circling them. Rey bites back the retort begging to eek free, and she grabs the closest thing to wear. It's her husband's shirt, her own clothes discarded during their earlier passion and now under the guards feet.

"They stole from us!" the bloodied younger merchants shouts. He tries to take a step closer but one of the guards holding onto her husband stands straight and blocks his path with an outstretched arm.

Rey pulls the shirt onto herself then grab Kylo's pants and tosses them to him. The two guards holding him let go with a grimace to let him dress.

"They attached us," she grits out, quickly buttoning the shirt which luckily hangs to mid-thigh. "My husband and I were sleeping peacefully and they attacked us for no reason!"

General Kamen looks to the merchants. The younger one is bloodied, the old one battered, and the one in the mask glares right back. His hands are empty. Which means the knife is still on him somewhere.

"Is that true?" Kamen asks.

The older merchant immediately shakes his head. He points at Kylo and Rey grabs her discarded robe from the corner where her husband had flung it as he undressed her.

"He stole it!" the merchant insists. "We were gambling and he cheated us blind! We have families that depend on that money, and he stole it right from under us. He's nothing but a coward with no sense of honor, and his whore's not better!"

Another ripple of murmurs spills through the crowd around them. Kylo sneers, his eyes locking with Rey's. She ties the robe snugly around Chrysler, the weight of their money presses at her chest, reminding her of its presence. Could she end this now just by giving it to the merchants and being done with it?

But that's all the money they had, and it was _theirs_. Even the very notion of giving it to these three who were so stupid to lose it to begin with goes against every part of Rey's nature.

Kamen appears to regard them, but Rey can't shake the feeling hat he's already made his mind up about them both.

"I don't tolerate thieves in my caravan," he says.

"Thieves?" Kylo yanks his arms free from the guards and stomps forward, standing toe to toe with the General. "How about liars then? Because not a single thing these cowards says is true, and they attacked my wife for no reason. Do you allow _that_ on your caravan, Sir?

The General's jaw ticks. One of the guards moves forward, but a flick of Kamen's hand holds him away.

"The complaints," he continues," are for far more than just your gambling night. I've heard from more than one of our fleet about the way you behave. Tonight alone people were pounding at my tent door telling me about how much _noise_ you two were making."

Rey blinks, then immediately pales. That meant that… someone heard them? She and Kylo?

Oh. _Gods_.

"We're not thieves," Kylo repeats.

He takes a step back, but none of the tension hanging heavy in the air dissipates. If anything, it only grows as the General makes a slow tour of their tent, his eyes traveling over every item as if he was looking for their final condemnation.

"They have our money," the bloodied younger merchant says. "We're not leaving until we get every ounce of our gold back."

"Maybe more than that," the masked man agrees, speaking for the first time. "I think they owe us more than just what they stole for all the trouble they've given us."

Kylo turns his head slightly, looking down at the floor where his shirt had been. The shirt Rey was wearing and now hidden from sight under her robe. He gives her a raised eyebrow and she faintly shakes her head. No. _No_. The money was _theirs_. They weren't giving it up, nor anything else, to scum like these three.

"You're not thieves then?" Kamen finishes his circle, coming to a stop in front of the low table they'd had dinner on. "You swear to that?"

Rey frowns, her throat tightening as if there was a noose drawing around it, but Kylo speaks first.

"We do," he says. "We have been nothing but honest, and now I want justice for my wife."

Kamen bends, picking up the spilled bottle of wine. He turns it over, his face stoic, and Rey sucks in a sharp breath of air. That had been one of his own bottles. Kylo had bought it from the stable boy, who must have stolen it from the General himself.

Kylo looks back at Rey. His lips are pressed into a firm line and for the life of her Rey can't think of a single thing to say that could help them. But she has to try.

"Please, sir, let me-"

"Guards, take them outside," Kamen orders. "Keep an eye on them both, especially their hands."

One of the guards grabs Kylo's shoulder but he jerks himself away.

"You have no right to drag us out. This is our tent for as long as we've paid for it," he argues.

Another guard grabs Rey's wrist firmly but she holds her ground, watching with tight nerves as the General glares right back.

"You were right, _Sir_ ," he addresses Kylo, scorn lacing his voice, "I don't tolerate liars in my camp either. Now both of you will step outside while these three gentlemen search for what you've taken from them."

Rey's eyes widen. The unfairness of the situation stings deep, but she quickly grabs Kylo's hand.

"Come on," she whispers, "it will just be for a minute."

Kylo grimaces, but he lets her and the guards draw them out. Rey bows her head, pretending not to notice the cold glare the general gives them both. Or all the rest of the condemning frowns they draw as the crowd parts to make room for them to pass. Just before they're shoved outside of the tent flap Rey bends and snags both her and Kylo's shoes. They may have to stand outside in the cold while their tent is searched, but at least they can have that one dignity while they do it.

A female voice mutters something particularly venomous sounding as they pass and Rey looks up in surprise. It was the woman from the bathing tent. Not the attendant, but the one from the night before who was smoking something that smelled terrible. The look in the other woman's eyes is every bit as detached and dazed as it was before, but now it's blended with a sour sneer of malice as well.

Rey never did anything to her. They barely even spoke. And now she's looking at them both like they're thew lowest kind of criminal. Worse than that.

Except she's not alone. The guards take them outside and a circle forms, harsh sounding gossip falling all around them. Kylo stands straight, glaring right back at them, and Rey hurries to put on her shoes before handing him his.

From inside the tent come sounds of fresh chaos. Angry mutterings and the rip of fabric. Something is knocked over, and Rey grips Kylo's wrist when he starts to move back to stop them.

"Get dressed," she whispers, "please."

He still doesn't have a shirt on, but that was hardly fault of theirs. All around them the crowds watches, abuzz of excitement filling the air at their expense. Gods, they truly have no friends here, do they?

Then Rey sees that little stable boy. He's peeping at them from around the corner, and he's the only person in sight who looks concerned on their behalf.

A particularly loud crash comes from inside their tent, followed y a round of shouting that "it's not here!"

Kylo curses, pulling his hand away from hers as he starts to stalk forward. Immediately the guards step in front of him, their hands now holding spears forming an X to block his path as General Kamen comes out. He glares right back at Kylo, and Rey hurries to join her husband's side and make a united front.

"The three merchants are int here!" she points at, gesturing angrily as shapes move about inside. "What kind of justice is this? You're letting our accusers tear through our things after attacking us both tonight?!"

The generals' glare snap down to her and Rey stands straighter, wishing she was taller so she could meet him eye to eye.

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

That was is? All the explanation they're given?

Rey presses closer to Kylo. Feeling how his anger is coiling up inside of him and his muscles tightening against her side. Her own anger and the sheer unfairness begins to spike as well, but before she can say anything one of the guards and the older merchant come out and stand next to the general.

"Sir," the guard says, "we didn't find their stolen money, but we found this."

He holds up a small leather bag and the General swiftly takes it from him. Rey frowns, squinting in the darkness. She's never seen that before, and when she looks up at Kylo he shakes his head too.

The General pulls his fingers out, some sort of white powder coating them.

"Skooma," he announces, drawing another shocked murmur from the crowd.

That was… that was what the woman in the bath house had been smoking. Rey had wanted no part of it, but now that she looks around she doesn't see her standing amongst the bystanders either.

"She set us up!" she gasps. "The other woman! She set us up! that's not ours!"

Contempt. Cruel, cold, contempt. That's the best way to describe the General's expression, and when he tosses the bag at Kylo's feet both she and the two guards have to hold him back.

"Kylo!" she pleads.

Her husband was a hot head. She knew this, but now was not the time to pick a fight. Certainly not with the General now, even if he likely deserved it.

Kamen steps back, his hand washing through the air and the guards pull both Kylo and Rey further from their tent.

"You will leave tonight," he says, "you are banished from my caravan. Consider yourselves lucky I'm being so lenient with you."

"Lenient! It's the middle of the night!" Rey gasps, struggling against the guards firm grip on her. "Where will we go? Where even are we right now?"

Next to her Kylo falls still. Two more guards move closer, clearly sensing the same things as she is. Kamen doesn't flinch, though, and another loud crash comes form inside before the two remaining merchants stomp out.

"It's gone," the younger one says.

The older merchant curses. He turns to Kamen, shaking a heavy fist right in his face.

"Sir, we demand justice! If these two- two _outsiders_ won't give us back what's ours, we demand payback!"

Kamen backhands him, sending the merchant sprawling backwards to the ground.

"Don't tell me how to run my camp," he warns. Then he snaps his fingers, gesturing at two women in the crowd. One of them is the bath attendant, the other is the friend or companion at least of the woman who'd set them up with the Skooma.

"Pack their belongings, if you see anything of value, give it to these three."

Rey grips Kylo's arm tighter, this time as much to steady herself as to keep him from declaring an all out battle in the midst of their latest enemies.

"They have nothing of value," the younger, bloodied merchant argues. "The only thing they have is their horse."

Rey's eyes widen. Dala. In the midst of all this she had forgotten about her. Rey would sooner fight barehanded out of here than let any one of these three _scum_ _laden nerfers_ lay a hand on her.

"No!" she and Kylo shout in unison.

The General turns his glare to them once more, but this time Rey isn't backing down. Enough was enough. If they were going to be thrown out here in the mile of the night fine, but Dala was coming with them one way or another.

"No," Kylo repeats, stepping forward as close as the guards fully surrounding him will allow. "You want us to go quietly? Our horse comes with us."

He hisses the words out with a tone of finality. For a moment Rey tenses, ready to start fighting. The guards were numerous, but she doubted they were highly skilled If she and Kylo could get just a single weapon from them, they stood a chance at making it out of here.

The General falls silent, seeming to weigh his options. Behind him the two women come out. One holds a blanket wrapped bundle in her arms. Whatever possessions they felt inclined to let the outsiders keep, Rey assumes. The other holds Rey's staff and Kylo's saber, and Kamen frowns at the items before nodding.

"Done," he says. He snaps his fingers again, summoning one of the stable boys. "Bring their horse. I don't want these two thieves in my camp for a moment longer."

Rey swallows. She takes a step back, and the guards surrounding them ease enough for she and Kylo to turn and start to head towards the stables. This whole thing was wretched. This whole caravan nothing but a mistake.

"Sir!" she hears the older merchant argue. "You can't let them get away with this!"

The General spits something back in that foreign language, and Kylo visibly bristles next to her. Whatever they were saying about the, must have been very bad indeed. He turns, stepping back to argue or yell or whatever her husband was about to do, but a shadow leaps out to intersect him.

The masked merchant. He collides right into Kylo, muttering something under his breath so low that Rey can't hear him. Then he steps back, disappearing into the crowd just as quickly as he had appeared.

Kylo doesn't move. Rey frowns, staring at the back of his head. He stands their motionless, and suddenly the bottom falls out under Rey's feet.

"Kylo!" she gasps, at his side in a heartbeat.

He looks down at her, his face pulled tightly into a line of pure anger and… and pain. Then his gaze drops down to his side and Rey screams.

He's been stabbed. Blood pours out of a dark wound along his side, right under his ribcage.

"Gods! Kylo!"

She reaches for him then falters. Kylo doesn't move still. He frowns, touching his side and his hands come back glistening with his own blood.

"Help us! Someone!" she cries, pure panic freezing her veins and locking her in place.

She just… _no_.

Two people from the crowd shift forward, but the General immediately waves them back.

"Debt paid," he says, turning on his heel.

Rey shrieks. Flinches. So utterly useless, and Kylo finally takes a step back, his movements sharp and staccato.

"Rey."

He sounds too calm. His side is a war zone, blood pouring freely and seen even against the dark fabric of his pants.

The women toss their belongings onto the ground, but the guards snatch them up before Rey can make a move for their weapons.

"You're monsters, all of you."

She whispers it under her breath, Kylo's weight leaning heavier against her with each step she makes him take backwards. The guards follow, carrying their items with them but keeping their own spears at the ready. Carefully Rey turns them, moving to put herself under Kylo's arm on the opposite side to the wound he's clutching tightly. He doesn't even have a shirt on, for kark's sake, and they're being thrown out like this?

Dala is waiting for them at the exit to the camp. The crowd follows, watching them being unceremoniously dumped out into the desert. General Kamen stands to the side, and Rey can't bring herself to look at him. One day, she'll come back to him for this. Now though, every second counts. She needs to get hem far rough away that those merchants can't come back for more and then-

And then?

"Here."

A small hand extends into her field of view. Rey hadn't noticed that she'd been tearing up, her eyes stinging and threating to spill over along with the rest of her mind. It's the boy they'd helped before. The one who gave her the flowers. He's golding out the Dala's reins for her.

Numbly she takes them with her free hand before trying to help Kylo get up. He wobbles badly, Dala whuffling in displeasure, and it takes him three times in heart-wrenching grunt of pain before he makes it up. Rey immediately climbs up and sits in front of him, ready for this fresh nightmare to be behind them.

The stable boy secures their wrapped parcel of belonging and Rey frowns, catching him slipping a small satchel in along with them. He glances at Rey then turns, scuttling of into the night as General Kamen steps forward.

"Leave now," he orders.

Behind Rey Kylo starts to laugh.

"You're going to be hanged for this," he mutters, his voice lilting despite the situation. "Attempted regicide is one of the highest of crimes."

Rey flinches, but Kamen simply shakes his head.

"You're sending my husband to his death out here," she tells him.

"My condolences to his widow."

Kamen turns at that and so does Rey. She leads Dala on a slow and measured pace, not wanting to jostle Kylo anymore than she has to. All around them a hush falls. Rey wonders if the crowd is expecting a fight from them? Perhaps they even want it? Having her and Kylo cut down by their guards might sit better with them then simply sending them out alone and injured into the desert wastes.

As Dala walks, Rey keeps a close eye for the merchants. One merchant in particular. She hadn't even seen his face, and he could be watching them now hidden amongst the crowd and she would never know.

Slowly she eases up her tight grip on Dala's reins. Their horse starts to trot, and Rey shudders at the pained sound as Kylo sucks in a breath.

"Hang on," she tells him. "We need to get away from here first."

His hand falls heavily on her shoulder before he pulls back her hair to kiss her bare skin.

"It's going to be alright, Rey," he promises.

She doesn't believe him for a second.

* * *

Author's note:

Well our duo's really in trouble now, aren't they?

Did you think Rey made the right choice not giving the merchants back their money? Except it wasn't the merchants money anymore. Her old self came out to defend it. Maybe if she'd given it back and all the rest, they wouldn't have stabbed Kylo? Or they might have done it anyhow regardless. What do you think? This is something she's going to be tearing herself apart over during the next few chapters, certainly.

And, as always, you can find me on tumblr at a lost-inthesunlight and on twitter Ava_Avdal : )

* * *

comment replies:

Paul Lenzen - Glad you liked the love scene, it's always a bit of a guess to think how to approach it best. In this case this was Rey deeply in her own head, but she had a good time anyhow despite her best efforts to the contrary!

ldsrsc - Stop with the cliffhangers? Never! Never gonna stop! Kidding, but also no ; ) But I'm glad you liked this last chapter, Rey really has been coming around so much recently, she's needed a little loving from her husband and they both deserved it! Pity their fun hard to be interrupted. Thanks as always for commenting!

ToughSpirit - I know right? Our duo just can't catch a break! But they finally made huge leaps and bounds in their relationship, now they just have to get through the next few chapters! Thanks so much for commenting! 3

Benfan1 - I love my cliffhanger endings, sorry! But this time I DID update soon! Thanks for commenting! : )


	26. On Borrowed Time

chapter summary:

Where Rey's not going to end up alone.

* * *

Rey was having a hard time keeping Dala under control.

The horse must be psychic, or at lest intuitive. She had always responded better to Kylo than Rey, but now she must be using her special highly-attuned horsey senses to realize that the two humans on top of her were in a desperate way.

"No, no."

Dala had started to trot. The movements were stiff and jerky, held back by Rey's tight grip on the reins. With each little jolt Kylo would clear his throat or his arms around Rey's wast would tighten.

Another tug of war broke out and then Dala stopped abruplty before neighing and tossing her head from side to side. For a second Rey's heart lurched in her chest. If she was about to buck them off-

"You're pulling too much with your right hand."

Kylo's voice was deep in her ear. There was a slight raspiniess to it now, or had that always been there?

"Here, like this." He reached around her, taking her hands within his. All Rey could think about was how his side was flexing. Putting more pressure on the knife wound that she could feel staining through her clothes where they were pressed together.

"Kylo."

Please, please don't move.

"There."

He adjusted her grip, letting the reins have a little more slack in them. Dala stilled, her head spinning around to try and glare back at them. Kylo let go then, holding onto Rey with one arm around her waist while his other hand reached back and lightly tapped Dala on her rump. With an unhappy whuffle their horse started walking again, and Rey let out the breath she'd been going dizzy on.

"Let me do this. Just hold still."

The weight of Kylo's temple pushed lightly at the back of her head. His thumb rolled against one of her floating rips in a circle, and Rey blinked rapidly as her eyes started to burn with the need for unshed tears.

"Darling, you're doing everything wrong. Don't you know you're supposed to let the man of the house handle all this tough stuff?"

The lilt of jest in his voice sounded forced. Rey couldn't find even a shred of will to make a retort. A single, solitary tear striped across her cheek, burning against the chill of the night air clinging to all the exposed areas of her skin.

They would need to stop soon. How long had it been since they left the caravan? Was it safe to stop yet? With Kylo's unsteady bulk behind her Rey hadn't been able to effectively make sure they weren't being followed.

Can't stop. Not yet. Dawn was going to be here soon, and Rey stupidly clung to the idea that maybe somehow things would look better in the light of day.

"Probably going to be far worse," she muttered.

"Hmmm?"

He sounded sleepy. No. No no. She can't let him sleep. Dala whinnied again, and the weight of his head against her should lifted.

"The reins, Rey. Even tension. Do as your husband orders."

Gods, she knows what his voice is supposed to sound like, and this pained wheeze isn't it. Of all the things she knows about her husband, it's the sound of his voice she's memorized the best. He's hurting, and trying to hide it from her.

"Ass," she whispers, another fresh line of tears streaking down. The sky was maybe a shade lighter by now, but that just meant it was a paler shade of black. Can't stop yet, dawn couldn't come soon enough.

Kylo's thumb rubbed her waist in another circle again before lifting up to try and catch her chin. Rey pulled away from him, not wanting him to feel how damp her cheeks were.

"Rey."

She closed her eyes. His hand fell heavy onto her thigh. Dala steadied herself again when Rey let her grip grow slack before letting go of the reins entirely to clasp Kylo's hand with her own.

"Rey?"

The urge to scream was all consuming. If this was a nightmare, why hadn't she woken up yet?

"Kylo, don't stop talking to me. Keep talking. Anything."

It was selfish of her to ask that. He needed to stay still. Save his strength. But Rey needed to hear him more right now.

Kylo's breaths were heavy and uneven. Rey pressed herself closer and opened her eyes.

A paler shade of pale black filled the sky. The stars were fading, and Rey forced herself to look down. Even in the dimness she could see all the blood staining the back of her robe. Her husband's blood.

She swallowed, trying to force out something, anything through her constricting windpipe. The scream bottling up in her had nowhere left to go, but Kylo immediately shushed her when her shoulders started to shake as she lost her fight to hold her tears.

"Rey," he kissed her forehead and the tears wouldn't stop spilling across his palm as he stroked her cheek. "We're not going anywhere. Either of us. We're here together, and everything's going to be alright."

Alright? _Alright_? How could he possibly-

"Promise me, Kylo."The words come out in hiccups.

A long silence stretches. Kylo holds her tighter than he should, but she can't stop him. Not like this.

"I promise I won't leave you, Rey, if you promise you won't leave me."

That. They hadn't finished their conversation last night. It had ended at a silent impasse, before it had just ended.

In any other circumstance it would have been a despicably dirty move of Kylo's to make her promise herself to him now. Now when he couldn't possibly be held accountable for his own end of the deal.

Except now it was an easy choice.

"I promise."

Kylo's hand fell away then, drifting back onto her leg as if the effort to keep it on her face was too much for him. She felt him smile, though, and wondered if it wouldn't be for the last time.

* * *

"Beautiful."

The changes in his voice were subtle, but they hurt worst of all.

"Me or the sky?"

Rey tried and failed at levity, but it gave her another smile against her shoulder.

"My wife _under_ the sky. I could drown in you both, you're so beautiful."

It wasn't fair for this dawn to look like this. Purple's rolling across the edges of the silhouetted desert hills. The stars were still shining and the setting moon was still up in the air. The cold night winds had fallen still, and there was just enough growing light for Rey to see the heavy waves of clouds looming in all directions except right above them.

"We should stop."

It had felt like an eternity that they had left the caravan. The memory of it was fading in her mind, being drowned out by dire thoughts and grim practicalities.

"Kylo? Don't you think we should stop?"

A pause, then he hummed. He kept falling silent and she hated that more than she hated anything right now.

"Where do you think we should stop, Kylo?" she prompted. "How about over there?"

She pointed at the _over there_. A dark, rounded shape in the distance that dimly looked like a boulder. Wherever they were now was very flat and over there had been the only distinguishing characteristic she could see as the sky took its sweet time showing them the way.

"Looks good."

Kylo says it in a reedy sigh. She squeezed his had a second passed before he squeezed it back.

The boulder was about three feet high and, by the time Dala dragged her hooves the longer-than-it-looked distance to it, Rey could see it really was just a lone rock. All around them were sand dunes ringing the distance and cracked, dried out ground underfoot. The cloud-covered sky was pink now, and Rey closed her eyes as the first ray of morning sunlight broke through to land on them.

Then she carefully pulled herself forward, unwrapping Kylo's heavy arms from around her waist. She had to brace herself before she looked back at him.

"Good morning," he said with a soft smile.

His hair looked matted against his forehead, but his smile grew when Rey reached up to smooth it back.

"Can you sit up on your own?" she asked.

He nodded, then pouted his lips as if pretending to be offended by the notion that he couldn't.

Rey didn't miss the flicker of a grimace he made when she pulled herself fully away and dropped down off the saddle. He supported himself with both legs against sides and Rey couldn't bring herself to look at his injury yet. The blood on her robe was still wet. That meant he was still bleeding. _That_ meant these next few hours or less were the most critical, but what in all the gods was she supposed to do with that knowledge? There was no one out here. They were pitifully alone.

Rey uselessly circles around Dala, trying to find something to tie up her reins to. She settles on jamming her staff into a seam of the boulder, and Rey could almost swear she sees their horse roll her eyes at the pointless gesture.

Then out of the corner of her eye Rey saw Kylo's dark head bob, his weight shifting and making Dala shuffle as he started to get off of her on his own.

"Don't!" she called out, giving up on the reins to hurry over. "Just stay up there and-"

It was too late. Kylo didn't hop down but rather soft of oozed off the saddle, sliding sidelong until he had a foot down on the top of the boulder. Dala made an unhappy sound and looked back at him, and Rey mentally cursed his pig-headed stubbornness as she hurried over to help him the rest of the way down.

"You shouldn't have done that," she hissed, wincing in sympathy as he fell to his knees against the stone. One of his arms was wrapped tightly around his torso, and his lips were pressed into a tight white line.

"Needed to take a piss," he muttered. "Figured Dala wouldn't take to keenly to it if I did it on top of her."

Rey started to object again, but he pushed her back from him. The movement was weak, and she fretted in a close circle as she watched him unsteadily get off the boulder and try to find his footing.

"Can you stand?" she asked quietly.

He huffed and nodded.

"'Course."

He took a step, swaying slightly, but waved Rey back as she moved to help him.

"Kylo-" she protested, frustrations bubbling up inside her to mingle with every other negative emotion her psyche could come up with right now.

"Can handle this part myself, wifey, though I know you're an expert with my tackle after last night."

That earned him a half-hearted scowl before she turned her back to give him some privacy. Maybe this meant he would be alright? Kylo wouldn't be Kylo if he wasn't being an asshole Getting under her skin came to him as easily as breathing. So that meant he was was still breathing, albeit with obvious pain and difficulty.

Next she turned her attention back to one of the very few things she had any control over: their remaining few belongings. The loosely wrapped bundle of whatever they had left had been hanging haphazardly off the back of Dala's saddle, perhaps explaining some of her irritated temperament, and Rey untied it before setting it down on the ground. Some strangers in the caravan had "packed" it for them, if you could call this that, and there was no surprise at all that it seemed like half their belongings or more were missing.

Clothing. They mostly had clothing. That and a few odds and ends like a small knife and candles and a pen and paper. No food or firestarter and, far worse, only one small leather pouch of water. It sloshed in Rey's hands trembled as she picked it up. This was it. They were out here in the desert with only one flask of water.

The weight of their situation suddenly crashing down upon her so hard the whole world seemed to spin. She blinked, her hands falling on the small pile of items but not moving.

At the first muttered grunt of pain Rey's reverie broke and she rushed to her husband's side. He was sitting on the rock, one of his hands tightly pressed to his wound while the other idly toyed with her staff and the tether of Dala's reins. He didn't look up at her when Rey sat next to him.

"Does it hurt?" she whispered.

There was a long moment of silence, before yhe nodded.

"I've had worse."

Rey doubted that, but she let it pass. Carefully, with whisper light softness, she reached out and touched the forearm wrapped around his waist. His skin was clammy to her touch, and Rey frowned when he didn't move.

"Let me see it," she requested.

Kylo shook his head.

"It's fine. Nothing. We should get going before the sun comes out to ruin our life. How much water did those karkers leave us with?"

Rey looked down so he wouldn't see the lie in her eyes.

"Enough for a few days. For us. But not enough for Dala."

Kylo swallowed, his dark eyes flickering up to look at their horse. Dala stood stoically, though one of her ears was cocked in their direction at he sound of her name. Rey shook her head, dispelling the suffocatingly morose line of thought her mind had began to wonder down. She tugged on his arm, her fingers lightly pinching the rolled up fabric of his cuff.

"Let me see to it, Kylo. At least I can dress it properly."

He sighed, his breath warm against her forehead. His arm rolled away, his posture sagging. Rey squeezed her eyes together for two breaths before forcing them open to look.

It was a clean wound. That was the good news. But it looked like it went very deep. Fresh blood oozed from it still, the brightness of it shining against the darker stain of wherever it had dried before.

Rey stood and went back to their bundle of items. She pulled out one of his shirts and used the edge of the pen to cut it so she could tear it into strips. Then a thought hit her as she started to turn away,.

The boy. That little stable hand who had brought Dala to them when they had been thrown out of the caravan. She had seen him slip something into one of the saddlebags. He'd held her eye for a moment too when he had done it.

"Kylo?" she called.

A deep breath and a grunt followed after a moment. "What?"

"Nothing."

Her stomach tightened as she jerkily unsnapped the fasten on one the saddlebags. Empty. The other, however, had something small shoved deep into the bottom corner.

No more water. That one paltry flask really was all they had out here.

The something was a piece of fabric. A square of canvas. It was wadded up into a ball and, when Rey pulled it out, something the size of a coin fell out into her palm.

It was a ring. Plain gold or maybe not even true gold, and decorated with only a large center wooden charm.

Rey knew immediately what it was. Her heart started to pound as she regarded it. She twisted the central charm between her thumb and forefinger and there it was, the symbol of the resistance. That little stable boy had known. Somehow, he'd known.

Another grunt of pain emanated from Kylo and Rey hurriedly tucked the ring into her bodice. She grabbed the canvas the ring had been wrapped in and took that as well as their singular flask of water and the scraps of Kylo's shirt back to the rock.

He had been trying to stand up again, and the fact that he hadn't been able to accomplish even that sucked every wisp of air right out of Rey's lungs. Mutely she pressed her hand to his shoulder and guided him back down.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his hand reaching out for her but she stepped around him to go to his side.

"Hold still," she whispered.

Her hands were shaking so badly she nearly dropped the bandages right into the dirt. Rey uncorked the water flask and offered it to Kylo. He eyed it for a long moment before shaking his head.

"We have plenty more," she lied, "if you're thirsty then you must-"

"I'm fine, Rey. Let's… let's save all our water for the hottest parts of the day, alright?"

Rey nodded and pulled out the canvas cloth, intending to dampen it and clean the wound as best but minimally as she could.

"What's that?" Kylo asked, his voice dropping another octave into deep scratchiness.

There was something on the canvas. A drawing. Fine lines scrawling in-

In the shape of hills and dunes and mountains.

Rey gasped when she realized what it was. It was a map. Rey had seen General Kamen carrying one just like this, if not this very map itself. The stable boy must have stolen it for them during all the chaos.

"Oh."

Rey corked the water flask and stood. She held the map out at arm's length, trying to make any sense of it. Master Luke had tried to teach her this once. These lines on it showed how high or low something was. In one area they were much closer together, so that would be… a mountain? Mountains?

Rey turned in a circle, trying to match any feature at all that could show where they were now.

"You look like you're dancing," Kylo murmured.

He had slumped backwards, his weight resting on his elbows and his head lilting to one side. In the growing light of dawn Rey could see how pale he really was. There was a thin sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead and his eyes were half-lidded as he watched her.

"Let me see that," he said.

Kylo shifted to take the map from her and Rey sat down behind him so he could lean against her shoulder for support. He looked at it for a moment then huffed, his head turning to look back at her.

"Darling?" he rasped.

There was a slight smile- just the barest of a shape- to his lips and Rey tried to burn every nuance of it to her memory. She raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"You're lucky I didn't marry you for your intellect."

His smile grew as he took in her frown.

"What?"

This was good. If he could still tease her, this was good.

He held her gaze as he rotated the map around.

"This way's up, darling. You were holding it upside down."

His finger tapped at the compass drawn on the corner.

Oh. Right. Well she had karking extenuating circumstances.

"Why _did_ you marry me?" she asked, shifting as he weight began to press heavier against her.

Kylo turned his head then. He rested the map on his lap and his arms fell slack to his sides.

"Other reasons."

It was his only answer. Rey frowned deeper, but when she started to pull away it came as a relief to see that Kylo could still support himself upright without her.

"I think we're somewhere around here."

he pointed at a low-looking area of far apart lines at the lower right corner of the map. There was no indicator of how far the distances were, nor were there any towns or even the caravan's route line marked. In fact, he only thing that stood out on the map at all was a small smudge in the opposite corner.

Rey picked at it and it flaked off, leaving a faint stain to her fingertips.

"Soot," she said, bringing her hand to her nose. "Soot and lantern oil."

Exactly the things that a little stable boy would have had on hand if he wanted to mark them something. It appeared too deliberate to just be from a clumsy hand print.

Kylo didn't answer. His eyes were closed and, when Rey gripped his shoulder and lightly shook him, it took too long for them to slide back open.

She swallowed, leaning closer to him but not finding any words to say.

Kylo smiled, though. His hand unsteadily rose to touch her face, his figners sweeping acorss her cheek before falling away again.

"Beautiful," he murmured.

Rey's chest constricted at the sound. She committed that to her memory, too. Wanted to memorize the sound of every breath he took.

"Let's get you cleaned up," she forced herself to say.

Carefully she leaned him down flat on his back and spent a few precious splashes of their water to swipe away all the fresh blood that had seeped out from his wound from the time he'd been sitting here. Beyond that and bandaging him, there was very little else she could do for him. That was one of the hardest parts of all of this.

* * *

The day came and went.

Rey felt every second of it. One minute felt like an hour. She rested Dala as much as she could, but an awful sense of hopelessness was beginning to sink through her.

Kylo was getting worse. Of course he was. He wasn't going to get better until they found help, but…

but…

Rey didn't let herself finish that thought. Didn't let herself think about how slowly the landmarks were changing. They were heading towards that sooty little mark on the map, and Rey numbed herself to all the caustic doubts she felt every time she looked at it.

When they stopped at noon the only shade they found was from a lone, long dead tree. Rey had dressed her husband's wound again. He'd tried to be fussy. Tried to give her a hard time about it. Told her that he liked when she gave him so much attention. Those had been the good parts. He'd soaked through his bandages. She'd forced him to have at least a few mouthfuls of their water. Dala had looked as miserable as she had felt.

Like the day, the evening had came and went. Kylo was been getting quieter and quieter. Rey's mouth was dry, her throat aching and parched, but she'd forced herself to keep talking. Tell him about how pretty the sunset was. He'd hummed in agreement. His hand had clasped hers until it couldn't hold its grip any longer.

Rey kept going long into the night. Dala was the one that stopped them, not her. Rey would have pushed them night and day if she could.

The night had been bitterly cold. Such was the way of the desert. Every hour it seemed to find a way to make life unlikely if not wholly impossible. Rey had given Kylo every blanket, every scrap of clothing. Kylo had whispered to her that it was going to be okay. She curled herself around him and hid her tears against the chilled flesh of his neck.

* * *

On the second day Rey's husband had stopped talking to her.

His weight was heavy against her back. She'd had to slow Dala's pace just to keep him steady so he wouldn't fall.

Rey had tried. She had tried so hard. She talked to him. Told him that she didn't see anyone. Didn't see even a _trace_ of long ago someones. But not to give up. She wasn't giving up, and he wasn't allowed to either.

That afternoon their water had ran out. Rey had helped Kylo swallow the last drops of it. She'd had to hold the flask to his lips, but his eyes had opened and his mouth had moved like he was trying to tell her something. Rey had pressed herself close, brought her ear to his lips, but he didn't repeat it. He closed his eyes and there was a slight smile on his lips.

He was still alive, but not for long. Rey had stared at that forsaken map so many times- dozens of glances a minute likely- that she had every curve and line of it burned into the back of her eyelids. They were making progress. Slowly. If Dala would last, they might make it to that _smudge_ in another day's time.

Except Kylo didn't have another day. Rey held each of her breaths, waiting to exhale it until she felt his rise and fall as well. The spaces were getting further and further apart.

All the hope that she had was dying right along with him. The last frail, painful flicker of it resided with that mark on the map. If it was nothing, if it really had been just an accidental swipe of a clumsy, dirty finger, then…

Rey felt so wretched about how she was pushing Dala. She saw the decline in the loyal horse too. No water, harsh days, freezing nights, and being forced at the end of a whip to keep going through it all. If Rey didn't find salvation for them soon, it might be a kindness to put this poor animal out of its misery rather than let it parch to death on its own.

And there was another side to this. Rey had finally forced herself to think about it that evening. Kylo was sleeping quietly. He had bled through nearly every piece of clothing they had. Rey had no idea how much blood was in a human body before now, and she was left in pieces by the sheer volume of the answer.

That night Rey waited as long as she could bear. Kylo was resting. Dala was shaking. Rey couldn't let herself cry. She had fallen to hallucinations after the sun had gone down. Had seen footprints where there were none. Had heard voices then silence the moment her shattered focus had been brought back to them. Twice now Rey could have sworn she saw that same horrible, dark shape that had blighted them so many nights ago. The one that she and her husband had fled from when they had been watching the stars, back when everything was so much more healed.

This time, however, rather than running from it, Rey had lunged at it. Had dropped literally everything in her hands to sprint toward the distant, shadowy figure. It had disappeared in less than the blink of an eye. A trick of the light. A cruel game of the rising moon against the endless, empty desert lands.

The ring the boy had given her had begun to consume her thoughts next. It was welcome in a way. A moment's break from the endless listening to her husband's heartbeat slow and stagger as she pressed herself to him, giving him every ounce of warmth she could possible offer.

The ring…

What if… what if that mark really _was_ for the Resistance? Somehow? She would be bringing their greatest enemy dying to their doorstep.

That would be the cruelest trick of all. So unbearable it must surely be impossible, right? The universe wouldn't be so cruel?

And there it was again. That most treacherous of emotions. Hope. Despite everything, despite the sheer oddly and absolute certainty, Rey still felt a sliver of _hope_. It cut itself into her heart, a living breathing torment that snatched her breath away even when she had no tears left to shed.

She didn't deserve this and, despite all his flaws and terrible choices, neither did her husband. Fate would look after them. Would make this right. It had to.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when something inside Rey broke out.

Kylo was cold. His pulse was so faint she could barely feel it at all. He was nearly gone. Rey wouldn't let him. He didn't get to leave her all alone again.

The only thing worse than feeling him slowly die in her arms would be to do nothing while it happened.

Rey left him laying next to Dala. She kissed him first then the horse goodbye.

"Be with him when I can't," she breathed, swiping her fingers along the center of soft fur between Dala's eyes.

Dala made a soft noise. It sounded as sad as she was, but Rey was glad for that. If Kylo was about to- to- then at least he would have someone with him, even if that was only a horse.

Rey took her staff and left. She walked numbly forward, heading in the direction where she had last charted their course. This was their last and only chance. She would walk until she found someone or until her legs gave out and she fell to the ground to meet her own fate.

Time didn't have any meaning when she saw it again. That dark figure. He was there- or rather _it_ was there- watching her from a tall rock ledge. The shape was rail thin and wrapped in black. A literal shadow of a nightmare.

This time, though, Rey screamed at it. Howled like the sky itself was crashing down around her. It blinked out of existence but she didn't stop. Rey threw herself forward, climbing hand over hand, foot over foot towards where the creature had been.

When she got to the top, there were footprints. Real footprints. They were spaced well apart. Whatever this thing was had been moving fast, but Rey was quicker still. Fear had no place in her heart now. Whatever it took, whatever this cost her, she was going to find this _thing_ and demand he save her husband. No matter what.

Rey rounded a corner of a tall rock, her feet nearly spinning out from under her, and there it was again. The shape moved impossibly fast, bounded away from her and there was something wholly unnatural about it's hunched over lurches.

Rey drew her staff back, aimed, and sent it hurtling through the air. It collided right in the center of the black shape and a cry sounded out. A not quite human sounding cry.

Fear pricked but Rey was faster than even that. Faster than she'd ever been before. In one moment she was racing forward, then the next she had leapt onto the form and spun it over, pinning it to the ground under her.

Two solid white, soulless eyes stared back at her. The wraith trapped her in its gaze, pinning her just as she was pinning it. It's bony hand reached out, its fingers pressing to her temple.

Rey tried to scream again. Tried to jerk herself free. Hopeless. Hopeless as she ad been these last two horrible days.

A voice spilled into her head but the wraith's lips never moved.

 _You're safe._

Master Luke's voice. He spoke through this being true and clear, his words pouring into every recess of Rey's consciousness.

Hope.

Hope had kept her going and hope had brought her here, right into the hands of a monstrosity.

Darkness spilled into her mind and this time, Rey didn't fight it.

* * *

author's note:

Heh. Weeeeeellll… Okay, I'm just to go out and give spoilers that my stories have a happy ending. I'm probably going to put my characters through hell to earn it, but in the end they'll always get it. I've never written a story with a major (important distinction) character death and I sure as well aren't about to start now!

For those of you who've been kept waiting on the update to Horizon to Horizon, don't worry. I haven't abandoned that fic. I love it too much. Right now I'm just trying to get the plot sorted and I've got a lot fo WIPs and some one shots and actually some other fandoms I want to create for (any fans of The Witcher out there?). H2H will happen though, I promise :)

Also a big Happy New Year to everyone! 2019 was… good up until TROS. That film was just... Fuck that fucking film. Fuck that guy. Here's to a new decade though and all the unknowns it will bring *raises glass*

And, as always, you can find me on twitter at Ava_Avdal and on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight! :)

* * *

comment replies:

ldsrsc – Oh, yes, Kamen will get what's coming to him, don't worry. I got ya covered ; )

Benfan1 – Glad you liked this chapter! Sorry the update took me so long but… reasons...thank you for commenting!

Paul Lenzen – Thank you! Don't worry about Kylo, he's got so much more of annoying the everloving kark out of Rey ahead of him yet! Thanks for commenting!

Tough Spirit – I know, I was mad for rey and Kylo too and I was the one that wrote what happened to them! All will be settled in time, promise. Thank you for commenting!

.2019 – Thank you! I'm glad you liked this chapter! 3

Samantha – Oooh, glad you liked it! Thank you for commenting!

Pobrediabla – Um, heh, well TROS was a VERY mixed experience for me. There were parts of it I really liked, but it also made me so karking angry. You were given a 40 year old franchise and THAT'S how you treated it! Disrepectful to the extreme, basically.

Sorry, got off on a rant. That movie was very polarizing and rant-able, lol. I'll definitely think about writing a fix it fic! Probably just a 1 shot but I've got to make this right!

Thanks as always for commenting!


	27. Xa Fel

chapter summary:

Where Rey finds out that you can run from the past, but you'll never get too far.

* * *

"You gave me away like chattel when I was never yours to give."

Rey hugged herself closely as she said it. She was still wearing her husband's shirt, and all of her old Master's attempts to make her take it off for something warmer had been met with her greatest vitriol.

"You speak as if I sold you, Rey. I didn't."

Luke was too calm. Too collected and even-headed for the heated argument they were having. It made Rey acutely aware of her own shortcomings with patience. They'd had this discussion before and not just the once, but that made her no less in the right now.

"Rey," Master Luke continued, seemingly unaffected to the wall of her scorn. "You have no right to be so angry with me. Anger is a weakness. I taught you that."

Rey's eyes finally snapped up from their fixed place on the stone tiled floor. She glared at her old master, her lips pulling back into a sneer that would be better suited to her husband's regal face than her own. Yes, patience was gone, and civility would be next if Luke didn't begin to own his accountability in all this.

" _Master_." She puts as snide an emphasis on the word as she can muster, and her hackles on raise at Luke's deadpan sigh of dismissal. "If you didn't sell me, you pawned me. That's nearly as bad. You gave me to Kylo with no quarter. You didn't once ask me how I felt about the marriage. My only regret is that I would have said no."

The words spilled out unbidden and Master Luke raised an eyebrow. She hadn't meant to say that. Rey had hardly said her true feelings to herself, let alone to one of the two men she was the most furious with.

She'd just admitted she would have regretted _not_ marrying Kylo. Even a week ago swallowing down that thought would have been impossible.

"Your only regret, Rey?" Luke asked. "Truly? If it is then I made the right choice. I knew you would be a boon for him, and that he would bring out the best of strength in you as well. It was a good match to pair you with my nephew."

Rey's face still blanched at that final word. Master Luke… was Kylo's uncle. His blood. The karking brother of the karking _E_ _mpress_. How was it that she hadn't seen that coming? There hadn't been the slightest hint, or had there? Not that it mattered, though. Rey had said far too much already.

Given the chance, Rey would have married Kylo again. Again and again. Oh there were things she would have changed, but never _him._

It must be the stress of these last days. Of waking up in a strange place surrounded by those… those things. She had been put under for too long. Her first waking thoughts were that her husband must surely be dead and she had screamed and clawed her grief into the echoing stone walls of the caves before the wraiths had brought her old Master to her to calm reason back into her mind.

"Take me to him," Rey snapped.

She had been demanding that this whole time. Rey wanted to see her husband and only then would she allow herself another misguided moment of hope. Master Luke had promised that to her- that she wasn't a widow. That Kylo though badly injured and hovering at the edge of death was _getting_ better. He'd assured her that these creatures had found her husband before it was too late, but Rey needed the proof of her own eyes.

"I will take you to him, Rey," Luke promises. "As soon as his condition improves. He's ailing terribly. We weren't sure if- well, we had doubts at first."

Rey flinched at that and studies the tiles underneath her feet again. Her eyes itched like they longed to cry, but she was quite sure she was empty of tears by now.

"What are you hiding from me?"

It's not a question Rey truly expects an answer to. Maybe she doesn't want one, but the need for the truth itches and claws at her mind until it's all she can hear.

Luke shifted his stand from one hip to the other and Rey felt meanly pleased to see how, even after a comparatively short time since she'd last seen him, his psychical health had gone down perceptively. Good. Served him right.

"He looks very poorly right now, Rey. It wouldn't be good for you to see him like this."

That broke a bitter scoff from Rey. She buried her face in her palms, taking a long and deep breath until her lungs ached. Then she dragged her hands through her hair and glared at the door.

"You don't get to tell me things like that, _Master_ ," she spat. "I'm a grown woman. Old enough to be given into a marriage she never wanted. And now I'm the wife to a king, no less, not a child who needs to be sheltered from the cruelty she's seen only but a few days before now."

It had been Dala that had calmed her down as she ran through the cave tunnels. Rey had been inconsolable at first. Nearly uncontrollable. She had fled from the wraiths that surrounded her when she woke, and then next from her old master as well.

And then she had seen their horse. That sweet, even-tempered animal that Rey had never really known how to interact with. She'd probably scared the poor thing half to death as she'd ran to embrace it. Dala had reared up, disturbed by all the chaos Rey was bringing with her, and Master Luke had pulled her back from getting a proper kicking to the chest like she might have deserved.

He's alive, he'd promised then. And now Rey was done with waiting.

* * *

Their eyes were white and their bodies twisted and wrapped in black gauze.

Bile rose up in Rey's throat at the very sight of them. These wraiths were as hideous as they were terrifying, and worse still were how many of them there were. They creeped about the underground tunnels, their shrouded figures seeming to occupy every corner. With every step Rey and Luke took the wraith's turned to follow, their unseeing eyes gazing with a hollowness that sent a shiver along Rey's spine.

"What kind of soulless monsters are these?"

Her voice was hushed but it still against the stone walls surrounding on all sides.

Luke stopped in his lead to shoot her a very unfavorable frown. Around them the wraiths drew back further, and for a long moment there was nothing but absolute silence.

"They are the Xa Fel," he explained. "Fel is their tribal name, and we are guests in their Xa tunnels. They were humans once, just as we are. Likely now though few would recognize them as such."

His tone was thick was disapproval. Rey straightened, her eyes sliding sidelong to glance at the closest wraith. It's whole body was bent at an unnatural angle, and the only exposed area of it was a single white eye. The pale skin around it was marked with a spiderweb of scars that disappeared into the edge of black wrappings.

The eye narrowed and Rey's grip tightened on her staff. Somehow she had the feeling she had omitted some sort of major indecorum just now.

"Why are they?" Rey hushed her voice further. The fingers of her free hand fluttered in the direction of the black shape.

Luke rested his weight against his cane and took an audible breath before answering.

"Generations ago they were slaves to the northern kingdoms. The same place that the caravan you had been traveling with hailed from. There was and still is a great mining industry there, and the Fel were forced to work in the tunnels. As the lore goes, they were kept down there for so long, sometimes years at a time, that an affliction befell them. They became blinded by whatever substance they were exposed to in those tunnels."

Rey risked a look back at the beings, and they seemed to glare right through her. She swallowed, a gnawing sense of guilt at her own harsh words beginning to bloom, and she nodded for Luke to continue.

"Just blinded?" she asked.

Luke shook his head, his expression falling for a moment before he recovered himself.

"Most of them lost much more," he continued. "Whatever they were exposed to in those mines made their bodies too disfigured to be of use to their owners, and those that were lucky were thrown out into the desert wastes. Whatever their affliction is, it remains with them still, passed on from one generation of Fel to the next."

Rey swallowed, a sickly feeling settling deep into her gut.

"If-" her voice wavered, "if they're from the north, how did they come to be here?"

Luke dropped his chin and began to walk again. Rey hesitated, looking back over her shoulder at the lurking shapes, before quickly moving into step with her old master.

"The Fel are guardians of the whole desert, Rey. They have lived here long before the flag of Alderaan flew in the wind overhead. There are only a scant few left now, and these Xa tunnels are as close to a homeland as they have anymore."

Rey hadn't been allowed to know where they are right now, though Luke had lead her to believe they were somewhere within a mountain range that ran close to the coast. The wraith- the _Fel_ \- that had brought her here had drugged her, allegedly for both her own good and to keep the exact location of their caves a secret. Aside from that initial drugging Rey had to admit that they had done nothing else against her, and even Dala had seemed to be kept in good care.

"Why are they all watching us?" Rey whispered.

Unseeing eyes had followed their every step as Luke had lead her through a maze of tunnels. There were a network of doorways here and open rooms, and without her master's guidance she would have been well and truly lost.

"They are not used to seeing humans so close. Those of them that go to the surface keep their distance. They watch, but they rarely intervene."

"And the Resistance?"

Another fork in the tunnels and Luke leads them on the right hand path. Rey had been trying to keep a mental account of their route but it had begun to feel hopeless.

"They are in another section of these caves," Luke says. "They know of the Fel, but are expressly forbidden from coming into this part of their tunnels."

Luke came to a stop then at a door. He rested a heavy hand against it and gave Rey a very serious glare.

"Rey, the Resistance does not know that you and Ben are here. Not yet. I don't know how they would react if they did, and it's essential that we keep it that way until the time is right."

It wasn't a threat, Rey knew that with a certainty. It was a warning. Master Luke was telling her without having to say it that she must stay put and keep quiet.

Still though, there's a question that had been burning in her mind ever since she'd woken up and had seen Luke.

"Did they try to kill him?" she asks. "Shortly after Kylo and I had left the palace, we were attacked in my old home in the desert by… two assassins. Were they sent by the Resistance?"

Luke looked away for a moment for a moment, and Rey noticed how his brow was pulling together. He shook his head and her shoulders relaxed incrementally.

"No, Rey," he said. "That was not our doing, though it hardly seems surprising that the Alderaan throne is being threatened now. The assassins could as likely be sent from an rival kingdom as they could from someone within the palace itself."

Oh yes, Rey and Kylo both had thought about that. Her husband had no shortage of enemies. At one point he had even suspected someone in his own harem. One of his wives, no less. It was yet another reason why they should simply disappear as soon as they are able. Let the Empress worry about who sits on the Alderaan throne. She'd been gone for so long she might well ave forgotten about it just as she'd forgotten about her own son.

"I would like to see him now," she said quietly.

Luke nodded and pulled his hand away from the door he'd been leaning against.

"Rey, I must warn you again, he will likely be a terrible sight for-"

"I saw him when he was only a few breaths away from taking his last," Rey snapped. "Anything above that can only be an improvement for my memory."

Luke looked like he wanted to say something more on the matter, but he finally relented. He gestured at an open doorway further down the tunnel where a flickering light peeped out.

"I will give you a few minutes alone with Ben," he said. "Come and get me if you need me, or I will join you both shortly. There are still many things we need to discuss."

* * *

"Hello."

It was a simple and wholly insufficient greeting. Rey still smiled softly as she said it though. Her heart ached. Literally ached. There was a stabbing, throbbing pain in her chest that bloomed with every breath in and only barely subsided with each breath out.

It mirrored in tandem to Kylo's own.

There had never been a sweeter sight than her husband's chest rising and falling steadily under the thick woolen blanket that they'd draped him in.

Oh for sure he looked a sight. Paler than a piece of parchment. Lips blue like the shadow Nevan had smudged herself with. He was thinner, too. Even after just a few days. But he was alive.

Her husband, Kylo Ren, heir to the crown of Alderaan and quite possibly the single most irresistibly infuriating man Rey had ever met in all her days was _alive_.

And he probably didn't even know she was here. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, because Rey had won. She had succeeded in her goal. She'd found someone out in that desert full of nothing, and they had rescued her husband when she couldn't help him herself.

Rey lightly stroked his face. His skin was cool and there was a sheen to it that she could see even under the dim candlelight. Oh so carefully she lifted the sheet up from his torso to see the extent of the real damage.

His wound was swollen and an angry red. It was puffed up around the stitches, but there was a distinctly herbal scent that filled her nostrils. It didn't looked infected, just miserable.

When she'd first woken up herself and Luke had calmed her- Rey might have been trying to assault or at least scream like a banshee at the wraith she found touching Dala- but that first day Master Luke had promised that _Ben_ was in good hands. It had seemed to true. The room itself was clean though sparse. It smelled of herbs but not sickness. There was an odd sort of metal brazier which was emanating a steady heat. Rey frowned at it, having never seen anything like the faintly glowing crystals that were enclosed inside.

Kylo's form stirred and Rey immediately moved back to him. There was no other furniture in the room so she sat on the edge of the bed, positioning herself carefully so as not to dip the mattress or disturb him in any way.

He made a soft sound and Rey leaned in closer. For a moment his eyes opened just a crack but it was fleeting.

"Do you need anything?" she asked, hoping that the sound of her voice but rouse him.

It was selfish of her. He needed to rest in peace, but Rey so desperately wanted to hear him again.

He moved again, this time a little more than before. Rey lightly pressed against his shoulder, not wanting him to risk any movement to tear his stitches.

" _I'm sorry."_

The words were such a faint, barely discernible murmur. Rey stilled her breathing, pressing her head close to his lips and waiting for him to continue.

"It's okay, Kylo," she whispered. "I'm not angry."

Rey didn't feel any anger anymore. She felt hardly _anything_ right now, besides relief and a soul-deep sense of hurt. These last few days had been all she had. Part of her feared for their future and whatever plans Master Luke was no doubt laying, but if they have survived going through all this they could survive anything as long as they were together.

"Mom."

Another soft murmur and Rey leaned closer and stroked his hair. He thought she was his mother? He was no doubt delirious, and the room was very dark.

Rey remembered what he had said about the Empress. Something about how he and his mother had parted on poor terms before the Empress left overseas. Rey had thought little of it at the time, and Kylo had hardly mentioned it himself since then. The fact that he had been willing to drag them both all across the desert to the ocean just to be there to greet his estranged mother when her ship arrived spoke volumes though.

"You're not a selfish man, Kylo," she whispered, her fingering twining in his damp hair. "Self-centered, often, but not selfish. Whatever transpired between you and your mother will be forgiven."

Rey pulled back to take his hand in her own. Perhaps she was imagining things, but it almost felt like he squeezed her palm back. His grip was weak, but he was there, he were here with her, and it gave her an idea.

"Ben?" she whispered, the name sounding exceptionally foreign to her ears.

Master Luke had said that was her husband's original name, but he had changed it himself to Kylo apparently after some great falling out within the family. This had been shortly before the Empress had left overseas. Luke hadn't wanted to speak on the incident any further, nor had he been receptive to answering her questions about the nature of his involvement with the Resistance at that time either.

"Ben?" she tried again.

This time his fingers squeezed lightly. Kylo's eyes opened just a little and Rey leaned forward so he could see her better. The very edges of his lips curled up in a faint smile, before he face fell slack again and sleep claimed him once more.

A knock came from the door. Master Luke entered a moment later, and his eyes immediately fell to Rey and Kylo's clasped hands resting on her lap.

She blushed, feeling oddly like a child caught doing something they weren't supposed to. Ridiculous since they were married for kark's sake, but it still felt strange to be showing any sort of intimacy in front of her old teacher.

She let go and stood up, her hands fidgeting at the edges of the tie to her robe. Luke nodded.

"We will find something more suitable for you to wear," he said. "The Fel wouldn't have anything that you would like, but I can smuggle something out of the Resistance's storerooms when I get the chance."

Rey cleared her throat, her mind fumbling with forming her next words.

"Can you- er… Can you apologize to them for me? To the… Fel? When I said that about them I didn't realize that they-"

Her voice trailed off. Luke watched her neutrally before assenting.

"That they weren't soulless monsters? I will tell them, Rey, but be assured that they're used to be called far worse. How is he?"

Luke gestures at Kylo, but Rey notes he seemed reluctant to go any further into the room than the doorway.

"Better than I last saw him," she answered honestly. "He woke very briefly and he tried to speak, but I don't- I don't think he knew who I was. He seemed very confused."

"It's the herbs. The Fel are skilled healers. My nephew's injuries were extensive, and earlier when he'd first woke he would hurt himself trying to get up. I understand that the Fel are keeping him in an induced state of comfort and peace for his own sake. Depending on how his wound heals, we might be able to begin bringing him back in another day or two."

No part of Rey liked that. Of having to put her complete trust and faith in the hands of these dark cave dwellers. However there was little other choice at this moment.

"Tell them thank you for me," she said quietly.

Luke finally took a step further inside, but only the one. Each time he looked at Kylo is was partnered with the oddest expression that Rey couldn't quite place.

"What did he say?" Luke asked. "When he woke up? Was he angry?"

Rey shook her head.

"I think he thought that I was his mother. He called out to her and… apologized. He really didn't seem to have any idea what was going on."

Luke's face fell at that and a shadow crossed his expression.

"His mother. Of course."

He left it at that and Rey watched him, trying to work out the connection in her head. How strange to think that her old teacher was the _brother_ of the Empress. She'd only seen paintings of the Empress, and those were from many years ago/ Did they look similar? Were they close with other? Did she know of his role within the Resistance that was trying to overthrow the crown?

"What is she like?" Rey asked.

She'd heard tales of the Empress of course, but the woman herself had been gone for so long. Now that their upcoming meeting seemed like a real, tangible possibility all the questions she couldn't ask her husband began to brew in Rey's mind.

Luke didn't answer that, however, and Rey frowned. She took a step forward, willing to press the issue even if it meant opening up old wounds between her Master and his sister.

"Do you think she will like me? Is she severe? Does she- well, does she know how Kylo has been conducting himself in her absence?"

Luke straightened, his expression pulling tight as he watched her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"W-well-" Rey began to stammer, her nervousness growing the longer Master Luke delayed answering her. "She's my mother in law. That's classically a difficult situation. I've never had a mother figure. I don't know what she will expect of…"

Rey's voice trailed off as she took in the sharp look Luke was giving her. It wasn't an expression of anger, however, but rather one of acute sadness.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

Luke sighed deeply, his eyes closing shut. Rey looked behind herself at Kylo then back at her old teacher again.

"He didn't tell you."

Rey blinked. Then she shook her head.

"Tell me what?"

Luke opened his eyes and squared his jaw. It was a gesture she could have sworn she'd seen Kylo himself do whenever he was bracing himself for something very bad.

"What is it?" she pressed. "What didn't my husband tell me?"

Her old master took a long moment before answering, and when he spoke his voice was deliberately hushed.

"Ben's mother is dead, Rey. She passed on two months ago."

Silence and nothing more.

Seconds ticked by. The words fought to register.

Dead.

The Empress was...dead.

It didn't make sense.

Rey's mind couldn't wrap around the concept. If… if the Empress was dead… then Kylo was…

Oh.

 _Oh._

Rey wasn't sure if that changed nothing or absolutely everything.

* * *

Author's note:

Oh okay, so I actually had a very different setup for this chapter in mind at first, but I was having some problems with it. Thevagabondthoughts whom this whole story is a gift to helped me come up with the idea for this whole network of caves and tunnels that the Resistance has been hanging out in.

And the Xa Fel are a real Star Wars species. You can read about them on wookiepedia, and I deliberately wanted to pick something that wasn't that well known.

Here in this story they're a little changed. We're not going quite as full fantasy as would be closer to canon but there are different species and all kinds of mystical things going on. You'll find out more about the Xa caves in the upcoming chapters.

As always, you're all welcome to chat with me anytime! I'm lost-inthesunlight on tumblr or you can find me ava_avdal on twitter!

* * *

comment replies:

Paul Lenzen – Yeah, that was the stable boy from TLJ! He didn't show up at all in the 3rd movie so I wanted to give him a cameo in the very least. Thanks for commenting! :)

ldsrsc – You'll find out more about the "wraiths" soon, because Rey and Kylo are going to be down in these caves for at least one more chapter. Thanks for commenting! :)

probrediabla – Yeah, this last chapter was pretty dark, but now at least things are looking up for our duo! Not by a lot, they're still really in the thick of it, but the very worst is hopefully behind them now. The next chapter of In My Veins is coming out today (possibly already posted by the time you read this) so I hope you check it out as well! Thanks so much for commenting!

ToughSpirit – Don't worry, I promise this story will have a happy ending. We're in the final act now , so it's time for our duo to really come together. Thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers – I managed to update not too TOO long, so that's pretty good for me! Sure, if you'd like to talk I'd love to chat with you if you're interested! FFN is very clunky for messaging, so it might be easier if you message me on twitter at Ava_Avdal or on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight :) Thanks for commenting!


	28. Missed You More

Chapter summary:

Where Rey starts to find out just how much the plot doth thicken in her husband's absence from the castle.

* * *

"The Empress is… gone? She's dead?"

Saying the words out loud don't make them hold any more sense.

Luke watched her in silence, and Rey looked back again at the sleeping form of her husband. Her hands fretted, tugging and pulling at the sleeves of her robe as her nervous habit dictated. Does Kylo even know?

"He said he wanted to go to the coast," she said, her voice wavering with each word. "He wants to be there to see her. That's why we were- oh gods, Luke, does my husband even know that his own mother is dead?"

She turned back to her old master, her eyes widening with panic. That would be so horrible. Kylo's mother dying and no one had the decency to tell him? Why would the world treat him like that? It was so horribly cruel, and now the wretched task would all upon Rey to do so. Excruciating, and she didn't how to even begin to find the words. Kylo deserved so much better.

"He knows," Luke answered. "But scant few others do. Not even those on her ship other than the captain know the truth of the cargo they're carrying. The Resistance has suspicions. They've been looking for a letter that my sister sent to Ben shortly before her death, but so far I've manged to keep the truth hidden from them until I could speak to him myself."

Rey closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. That _bloody_ letter. Of course it was. She had cursed that wretched thing so many times, but did that mean that the Empress knew she was going to pass away?

"But what about her ship?" she asked. "Kylo had insisted he wanted to be there when she arrived."

A deeper sadness filled Luke's eyes, and he nodded as he let her finish the thought for herself.

"It's her ashes," she said quietly. "He wants to be there when the urn arrives back home."

All this time her husband had been keeping this from her. Because he didn't trust her. That hurt worse than almost anything else. He'd chosen to bear this weight alone all because of some stupid rebellion that Rey had never asked to take a part in but had been thrown into nonetheless.

Then another thought hit her, striking through Rey's mind so fast she nearly gasped.

"If his mother is dead then that means that… he's her only heir. There is no one else."

Master Luke's expression tightened to one of stone-faced determination.

"My nephew is now only a coronation away from becoming one of the most powerful people in the whole continent.," he said. "As Emperor his reach will extend far beyond Alderaan's boundaries. This is why we must keep him alive, Rey. Keep him safe from the Resistance and all those within his own ranks who seek that power for themselves, and _they_ are precisely why I need your cooperation next."

Rey turned and looked down at her resting husband like he was a stranger. Like she had never seen this man who lay half dead before her. What Luke was saying… suddenly so many things started to make _sense_. The Resistance choosing now of all times to begin to move. The assassination attempt. The mysterious and wraith-like Fel who had been watching them from the distance of night for as long as they had left the palace walls.

One by one the pieces came together. Kylo was about to rise to incredible power. Soon no one would be able to tell him no. Even the principles of common law wouldn't apply to him.

"I don't understand," she finally said. Because she didn't. She didn't understand any of this.

Luke sighed and sat back against the wall. Rey noted that he seemed very reluctant to go any further into the room than he had to. Just what exactly had transpired in the past between her master and husband?

"Rey, there have been developments while you… since Kylo set out into the desert with you. Are you familiar with the army of Alderaan's head general Hux?"

Rey had only been half listening to Luke, her mind thoroughly distracted with trying to lap itself. She couldn't hide her flinch at the mention of _that_ man. Try as she might, she couldn't stop her memory of flashing back to that dreadful scene of him. In the harem. With one of Kylo's karking _other wives_.

"We've met," she muttered bitterly. "What about him?"

"The Resistance has an infiltrator within the Alderaan court. We believe that the General is looking to take advantage of Ben's absence. My nephew had apparently left quite- hmmm- unexpectedly. The General is skewing his unexplained departure in ways that could prove very problematic."

Rey didn't know what to make of that. She frowned and nodded, however, wondering why her master was choosing to confide this in her.

"Problematic?"

"At this point some manner of attempted coup is inevitable," Luke answered. "The Resistance is worried that, in the light of Ben's disappearance, the General might actually be successful in taking over the Alderaan throne since there will be no clear line of succession left."

There were no words to describe how little Rey wanted either her or Kylo to be involved in this. Or how little Rey regarded the General Hux despite the brevity of their interactions with each other.

"You said Hux was _skewing_ Kylo leaving? How?"

Master Luke hesitated almost imperceptibly before answering.

"He may have reason to believe that Kylo has perished in the desert already."

She looked down at her husband. He was pale, waxen, but breathing. That had very nearly been the case, and her own fate as well.

"Reason?"

Luke cleared his throat and stood up from his perch.

"The Resistance has infiltrators in more than just the Alderaan court, Rey. I believe you have crossed paths with two of ours already. Both were young boys, though one of them may not have been as loyal to our cause as his brother is."

Before she could ponder that further, Luke continued.

"Both the Resistance and the General believe Ben to be dead, Rey. They do not know you are here. Only I and the Fel do. I fear at this point that I cannot say more about their plans until I have had a chance to speak with my nephew and see… and determine his suitability to his new role after Leia's death."

Rey frowned, fighting the urge to retort. _Suitability_? What would give Luke the right to- No. No, she'll worry about that another time. Now a much more pressing question was begging to be asked.

"This new role that Kylo will have-." Rey finds it impossible to fully say _that_ word of his potential title. "What would that entail?'

Luke's frown deepened before he answered.

"It would be a complicated matter. There would be many aspects to it. If Ben were to accept a similar duty to my sister, than he could negotiate his own duties among other kings and princes. Or he might choose to give himself further control of the other kingdoms."

There was no shortage of disapproval to his tone over that last part. Rey shook her head, finding it exceptionally difficult to process all of this new information.

Kylo… Kylo didn't want that much power? Or did he? He had hardly shown much interest in controlling the lives of his subjects before now, but would his mother's death change that?

"These are things that you will need to ask Ben yourself, Rey, as so will I. " Luke continued. "I have held my hopes in him having changed significantly from the arrogant and fool-headed young man who parted ways with his family. You seem to speak highly of him. Why?'

She didn't have a complete answer to that question. It must have been so obvious to her old master that her feelings regarding her husband had changed over these last few weeks, but since she had only just begun to come to terms with them herself what chance could she have to explain them to another?

"Kylo- _Ben_ \- is… he's complicated," she tried to explain. "I've seen that he treats me differently than others, but I also know with certainty that while he may be brash, he hides himself behind that arrogance. He doesn't really mean it."

She took a step closer, dropping her voice in respect to the unconscious man they were rudely speaking in front of.

Luke's expression remained infuriatingly neutral. Whatever he thought of that notion he kept to himself. He took a step around Rey, moving to the foot of Kylo's bed and Rey dimly considered that this might have been the closest he's been to his nephew since whatever happened between them happened.

"How did he get that wound?" he slowly asked.

Rey blanched. Er… _that_ story was going to sound far worse than it really was. Actually it was going to sound like the truth, but she didn't much care for the assumptions that would lead her old master to.

"He made some enemies during our stay on the caravan."

Rey had very much glossed over their ill-fated journey with the Northerners. Luke scratched his chin but didn't comment, not seeming the slightest bit surprised.

"Care to elaborate on that?" he prompted when Rey remained silent.

"He was gambling with some merchants and they were very sore losers," she said flatly. "That, and the Caravan already didn't like us very much left us with no allies when things got out of hand."

Truly the signs of a fine future Emperor. Luke held her gaze for a moment, his brow gradually pulling tighter. Rey pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying any more.

"I see."

Rey lightly caught his elbow when he moved to leave. There was a question that had been burning its way through her mind this whole time since the moment the full weight of the Empress's death had began to dawn on her. In fact, there were several very important matters she would need to discuss with her old Master, but one in particular couldn't wait anymore.

"If Kylo is- if he is to have a position of far greater power, then the current rules and laws may not apply to him, correct? He could… would Kylo be able to divorce? Or annul?"

She tried to keep her voice as unemotive as she could, but even saying those words aloud brought a shift to the weight that had been hanging over her heart for the last week. Divorces were beyond uncommon. So highly frowned upon, especially for someone who requires respect like a prince. But if Kylo had enough power and could be swayed to get rid of all the rest of those wicked tongued harpies of his harem? Or at least even just declaring an annulment with those of them he hadn't bedded? What a difference that would make.

Rey knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. It was such a long shot, and she didn't even know if Kylo would be willing to put his family name through any more scandal.

Luke's expression fell the longer he regarded her. Rey realized that she had been practically bouncing, her whole face lit up at the prospect, but she immediately realized her master must have misunderstood the nature of her question.

"I'd had hopes that your time with my nephew might have changed your opinion of him more," he finally said. "You will have to speak with him about that yourself. The choice would be his alone to make. I'm afraid you wouldn't have a say in it regardless."

He turned to leave then, and this time Rey let him. Her cheeks burned and her voice faded away to nothing. She hadn't meant it like _that_ , but at least her husband was still unconscious for this conversation.

Luke held the door open for her after he crossed it, and Rey looked back at him with a question in her eyes.

"I will prepare a room for you nearby," he explained. "Or further away, if you'd prefer. And I'll see to getting you some proper clothes. The Fel healer will be in here soon to take care of Ben's needs and redress his wound. You won't need to come back in here with him if you don't want to."

Rey had hardly given a thought as to her own accommodations until this moment, and she looked across the small and sparsely furnished room. There was plenty of space for her to make a bedroll for herself on the floor, but apparently Master Luke thought that she truly wanted nothing more to do with Kylo.

"Is the room across the hall open?" she quickly asked.

A beat passed, then Luke nodded. "Please, Rey, stay here. These caves are vast and they belong to the Fel. It would do very poorly for us to impose more on our hosts, and it is dangerous for you to go wandering around with the Resistance so close by."

With that, her old master closed the door behind him and Rey let out the breath she'd been holding before she sat on the edge of the bed next to Kylo and took his hand in her own.

* * *

Rey had tried to wait and practice patience, but she was never good at that.

She had sat silently by her ailing husband's side for an indeterminable amount of time before a soft knock had come from the door. It had been followed by silence until Rey stood up and opened it herself.

Outside was a Fel waiting to be let in. The healer, Rey assumed, though she had been quite surprised when the black-swathed being had responded to her request to come in with a softly mumbled 'thank you' of her own.

"You can speak?" Rey had asked.

The healer had nodded, answering Rey's next questions about how many of her kind new the Alderaan tongue with monosyllables of her own. Yes, she could speak. No, only a few Fel could. No, fewer still spoke the same language as Rey.

She couldn't coax the healer's name out of her though and, when the Fel had begun to unwrap Kylo's bandages Rey had stepped outside for the sake of concern about infection.

In truth, Rey had no intention of heeding her former master's warning. She needed to see what the Resistance was up to herself. They were here too, somewhere in these tunnels, and Rey had to find out what was going on. If Luke wanted to speak in vagaries, she wouldn't wait for him to come around any longer.

Rey first crossed the hall to check if the room for her was ready. She had no intention of actually staying there, but it would be good to keep up appearances.

Inside was a small, makeshift bedroll, a pile of mismatched clothes, a few books, and an oil lamp. Rey changed quickly, tossing her blood encrusted robe into the corner to be dealt with later. A bath would be lovely, but that would have to wait until Rey found the bathing chamber or whatever passed for that on her own. She could have asked the healer, but the masked woman had been very unkeen for more than the most basic of conversation.

Then she took the lamp but didn't light it yet. Outside of her room the halls of the cave were silent, lit up only by the occasional glowing brazier which did little to chase out the cold or the damp darkness.

Rey picked the opposite direction to that which she had been first lead and hurried on before anyone saw her.

The cave system went endlessly on in a tangled spiderweb of tunnels.

Master Luke had been right to advise her now to go off on her own, and after the seventh turn down a nearly identical split in the passages Rey had began to be inclined to agree with him.

She tried to keep mental notes as she went, and the few Fel she saw hadn't stopped her movements. Still though, Rey could feel their disapproval at her presence as a palpable force that hang heavily in the surprisingly breathable air. The fact that as dark and often narrow as these caves were and she still had no trouble breathing was a wonder of itself, but it also hinted that there might be hidden ways of escape should that become necessary.

As much as Rey wanted to trust Master Luke, over these last few weeks of her marriage a distinct loyalty had been formed to her husband. If Kylo had good reasons to become estranged- or perhaps more than that- from his own blood then she desperately wanted to believe there had been a good reason for that.

And the Resistance so close? Sheer madness. Kylo was surely in danger with them, and Luke had said so directly himself.

No, what Rey needed was a contingency. If everything went upside-down and the two of them suddenly found themselves all alone again, she would need to have a plan in order.

"Kark."

The passage Rey had been wandering came to another split, and this time both side went down lower. There were distant cracks of light above, but Rey hadn't seen either a torch on the wall or even another of the Fel in several turns now.

Rey crouched, her eyes straining in the dimness to figure out the way. The left handed path seemed slightly more used and there was the distant notes of voices echoing from further along. They sounded quite far away further down these passages, but it seemed like they were speaking in the common Alderaan tongue.

She crept forward, sinking down onto best knees and sweeping her hands in front of her to clear away any debris from the floor that might make a sound. All those years spent scavenging were finally coming to good use after all, and the two voices didn't waver or hush as Rey crept her way silently over to them.

Flickering light showed through a crack in the wall high above her. Whatever tunnel she was in now was running parallel but well below another one, but Rey wasn't tall enough to see who was moving about on the other side of the wall.

The voices were from men, so likely not the Fel. There was a dragging sound as if they were moving something heavy, and Rey strained her hearing to try and make out their words.

"-should never have put her in there."

Definitely a human voice, and one with a local Alderaan tone as well.

"He didn't ask us," another man's voice said. "No one ever did. Even if we'd spoken up they wouldn't have listened."

This was followed by a second loud scrape – what in the gods were they doing in there?- and it completely obliterated the first part of whatever was spoken back in return.

"-did she? None of us did, and now if there's a problem we can't do anything. Not a damned thing."

The voices began to fade and the light from the crack above shifted and grew dimmer.. Rey stood up on her very tip toes to try and hear the rest of the conversation only to catch a hollow sound, then silence.

Door closed, she presumed. And what a strange choice of words. Knew the _mistakes_ , not the dangers. That would have been the logical turn of phrase.

Was this about Rose, then? Truly a leap of a guess, but perhaps? Rey had wondered what had been going on at the Palace in her and her husband's absence. Definitely some future snooping was in order, though right now it might be best to play it as safe as possible until Kylo was recovered enough to move.

With a frown, she turned back the way she came.

* * *

Predictably Rey had gotten lost on her way back.

Or not precisely lost, since she had an inkling on where she was in relation to other parts of the tunnels, but more lost in the sense that she had no idea how to return to where she was supposed to have been keeping herself.

The problem had been that the cave tunnels had taken a turn from dim and dull to rather _fascinating_.

No longer was she strolling through simple, undercoated stone walls. Here in this new section the caves had opened up into several grand chambers. Dust covered sculptures decorated the walls, illuminated by the bright desert sun shining very high above Rey's head. The light spilled straight down, falling a good hundred meters below the edge of a that Rey was now peering over. At the very bottom was a lagoon of dark, frigid looking water. The edges of that deep lagoon were decorated with flowering plants and a very vocal and misguided part of Rey longed to test how deep those inviting looking waters really were.

Curiously, despite the glorious and unexpected beauty of this great room, it was also suspiciously silent. Every step Rey took seemed to echo from one side of the chamber to the other. As beautiful as this place was, it didn't feel right. Not in a sinister sense, but rather that she shouldn't be here. It felt like she had just wandered into a museum or some sacred place, but the scavenger side of her nature refused to allow her to turn back without at least investigating _just one more corner_.

That instinct had often gotten her into trouble, but Rey moved on through the next arched passage with a wide grin on her face. This place was simply too gorgeous to be ignored. The sculptures that adorned the walls were of people, she noted, and not the distorted forms of the Fel. She didn't recognize enough of the details to be able to place how old these caves must be, but they felt ancient. Likely far older than Alderaan or even the kingdoms that had come and gone before it. Kylo could tell her what they were. She was sure he would know.

"I wish you were here," Rey whispered under her breath.

She came to a stop underneath an ornate and geometrically decorated archway. It reminded her in a sense of some of the details of the Harem back at the palace.

A voice cleared itself behind her and she flinch, a jolt shooting down her spine and breaking her out of her wonder.

It was the healer woman. Now in brighter shadows Rey could get a clearer look at her. The Fel's age was impossible to guess and only her eyes and a bare hand were visible in between the black shrouds that covered her body.

"Come," the woman said, her other gloved hand extending.

Rey tried to hide her hesitation to take it, half afraid that these beings were somehow like a leper and the offered appendage might fall off if gripped too hard. The hand was quite limp, but heat seeped through the fabric in an oddly reassuring way. Rey let herself be lead back, though she tried to remember every twist and turn that she was taken along.

"I'm sorry," she offered after a few minutes. "I hadn't meant to- I had gotten lost. I was curious. It's very beautiful in there, is that your home?"

The healer's eyes slid to meet hers before flicking away.

"No," was her only answer.

They turned another corner and Rey began to think she recognized a few qualities to the shape of the stone walls now.

"What is your name?" she asked. "I'm Rey. That's Kylo, the man you're attending to. Who are you?"

No answer, but after a few more paces Rey's hand was let go and she was allowed to follow on her own. They turned again and she frowned, recognizing the hallway now with both Kylo's and her own doors. Except they were returning from the opposite direction that she had left, meaning that somehow in this maze of tunnels Rey had managed to go in a complete circle without having realized it at all.

"Please."

The healer stopped, gesturing with her bare palm and Rey's door. Rey flushed slightly, feeling more than a little embarrassed at having to be fetched like this, and she obligingly stepped forward, opting to go to Kylo's room instead.

She had only been gone for at most a few hours, but Kylo already looked better.

Rey sat next to him now on the chair that must have been brought for her while she was away. Idly she played with his hair, stroking it through her fingers and untying any knots or tangles she ran through. His color was better, and his breathing deeper. His bandages had been changed and his wound was now covered by a thick paste of herbs that smelled faintly like sage and something else she couldn't identify.

And he was starting to get a beard, too. Just a hint of stubble yet, but Rey smiled as she ran her fingers across his cheek. She had never seen him with a beard. Would she like it? Would he look older? More distinguished? Right now he looked a far cry from the regal prince she had first seen him as, but she supposed she had changed a lot in their short time together as well.

"Do you like my new clothes?" she asked, smoothing the simple tunic down tight across her lap so he could see it better.

He was still sleeping, of course, but even this subtle return to normalcy had done wonders to improve her spirits. Kylo was getting better. He was _living._ And she owed that to both Luke and herself as much as to the Fel. Her encounter with her old guardian had gone better than she had expected. Not well, by any means, but the longer Rey had to think about it, the less energy she felt to staying angry with Luke.

He had saved her from her old life. He had brought her to her husband. He had told her in not so many words that he thought she could somehow inspire Kylo to be a better ruler.

It was impossible not to feel somewhat humbled by that assessment. Humbled, but also suffocated. No one had asked her what she wanted, but that paled in comparison to the assumptions the whole world seemed to have about Kylo. He had a birthright. A heritage. She could simply go somewhere far away and disappear forever. Now, in the light of all that had passed, Rey was starting to see that was a luxury Kylo might never have again.

She flipped his hand over so his rested on top, then she bent to kiss his knuckles. These caves were so quiet now, it was easy to pretend it was just the two of them all alone.

His thumb swirled against the backside of her hand and Rey looked up in shock.

"Pretty little thing."

Kylo's voice was a scattered rasp. He smiled faintly, his eyes taking in whatever expression Rey knew her face must be making.

The air between them felt thick and sluggish. Emotions welled up with Each breath Rey refused to take.

"Say something else," she finally whispered.

Kylo blinked slowly. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out. Instead, little by little, he began to pull at her.

He guided her out of her chair, though truthfully Rey was doing the far greater share of the effort. She let him lead her up then down until she was bent over him, their faces nearly touching.

"Are you real?" he asked.

His breath had a staleness to it, but Rey could hardly have cared any less. Her chest started to constrict as she looked down at him, throat tightening as she nodded.

"Are you?' she asked.

It would be too easy for this all to be a dream, and a particularly cruel one at that.

Kylo lifted his head forward, the effort of it etched clear in the line of his brow, and he brushed the tip of his nose against her own.

"Prove it," he commanded.

Rey didn't hesitate. She was careful, not letting her weight rest against him at all, and she supported herself with a bent elbow against the bed frame as she brought their lips together.

Sweet. Chaste. Over in a matter of seconds. It was absolutely the best kiss of Rey's life.

When she pulled back Kylo smiled. His head fell back against his pillow as the effort to keep it up became to much, but his free hand listlessly reached out to catch the high collar of her tunic and lightly tug it down.

"Want to keep going, Wifey?"

The finger looped under, his cold touch tracing the top of her collarbones. Rey cracked up first. She laughed softly, her breath mingling with Kylo's own as tears of pure relief finally fell across her cheeks.

"Idiot," she murmured softly.

Kylo tried to laugh. The motion didn't appear to agree with his injury too well. Rey flinched, shaking her head at him, and he traced a bent finger along her wet cheeks.

"This bed's plenty big enough for two," he said softly, his eyes starting to fall half-lidded.

It really wasn't. The bed was just a small, narrow cot. Even if Rey were to lay next to his good side-

"Please."

His hand fell away, dropping to rest against his chest. That one word utterly dismantled Rey. She nodded, her vision blurring with warring emotions as she stood up and lightly padded to the opposite side behind him.

So very, very carefully she eased herself onto her side next to him. Kylo let her help him lift up his arm, but he draped it along her hip himself. It was a heavy, limp weight that pinned Rey in place against his side just as well as his singular plea had brought her there to begin with.

Within moments he was asleep, and the steady soothing rumble of breath entering his chest next to her ear brought her along with him shortly afterward.

* * *

Author's note:

Our couple needed a sweet moment together, didn't they? I'm also now ready to give it a ROUGH ESTIMATE of a chapter count of 35. I tend to run well over my plans, but now the final outline is saying there's going to be 7 more chapters before the final epilogue. So we're definitely in Act 3 now, though don't be surprised if that 7 chapter ETA increases since I'm such an overwriter. Hell, in my outline the chapter when the finally boink (… coming in around chapter 31-33 ish) is supposed to have more than just them boinking. But they're totally just going to get a full chapter long sex scene. I can see it happening now.

But we're getting there! I want to give everyone who's stuck with this story through my torrential, painful bouts of writing or creativity block my biggest and most sincere THANK YOU! I really couldn't have made it this far without your support, and I hope you all stick with this to the end which is in sight now!Where Rey starts to find out just how much the plot doth thicken in her husband's absence from the castle.

* * *

comment replies: (forgive me if these are shorter than my normal reply, I'm about to head out to a concert and I really wanted to get this chapter posted today!)

\- kaelmona

Sorry to keep you waiting! Next few chapters should come more regularly now I hope! Thanks for commenting!

\- cdknelson

Oh thank you! I'm very glad you're enjoying this story! Thank you very much for commenting!

\- Catulla

I'm glad the whole harem concept is working better for you. I wasn't really sure how to approach it at first myself, but I think now that our duo is on their own away from the Castle it really changes the dynamic of their relationship. Thanks for commenting!

\- pobrediabla

Yes, Kylo's getting better! And Leia's death and the coverup around it are about to become a big plot point, just wait and see! Thanks so much for commenting!

\- PinkSlytherin

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! No, only a very few people know about Leia's death. Pretty soon I think you'll see why! Thanks for commenting!

\- lala1224

What was Kylo searching for when he chose Rey? That's the question she's really asking herself right now, but maybe he was just looking for love? Only time will tell! Thanks for commenting!

\- Paul Lenzen

Thank you! I'm sorry for taking so long between updates, I'll try to finish this story up more regularly now. Thanks so much for sticking with it and commenting!

\- ToughSpirit

Ahhhh, what Kylo knew and didn't know, that is the question! Now that he's conscious and getting better, he'd BETTER start having some good answers right? Thanks for commenting!

\- ldsrsc

Well… yes and no. Kylo/Ben knew that as part of his role as the crown prince he would need a head wife, but the fact that he pick ol' scavenger Rey for his LAST wife is something that's been so confusing to her. All will be shown in time, I hope. Thanks for commenting!

\- littleMissMarie10

He's just starting to wake up now this chapter, so you know pretty soon he'll be back to driving Rey up the all (or is that against the wall ;)

Thanks for commenting!

\- .Feathers

Right now I'm not 100% positive but I do believe they will go back to the palace again before the end of the story. There's a bit of a technical time span and distance issue, but if they don't in this main part of the fic that will definitely be addressed in the epilogue. Thanks so very much for commenting!


	29. Between Heaven and Hell

author's note:

Howdy everyone! So… the apocalypse. Here we are. It's been a crazy, insane, absolutely ridiculous month for the world hasn't it? Here in Prague where I am we've been under a full housebound quarantine for ten days. Ten long, long days. Cabin fever and madness is starting to set in, so this chapter's a short one without that much really happening, but I just had to write SOMETHING. I hope this chapter (and especially the next!) brighten up someone's day!

* * *

"How did Luke convince you to marry me?"

Rey sat perched at the edge of Kylo's bed. He had kept trying to get up and bring her over to him until Rey had relented and sat close enough that she hoped she wasn't crowding him.

Kylo smiled at her question, his hand idly gliding along the tops of her thighs and pulling the fabric of her skirt.

"I convinced _myself_ to marry you, Rey. Luke gives himself far too much credit."

There was an unsubtle barb to how he spoke his uncle's name. Rey swallowed, trying not to think about the inevitable confrontation that would surely come between the two of them.

"So why, then?" she pressed.

His hand continued to wander, tickling her skin until Rey trapped it with a flat pressure of her palm across his knuckles.

"I saw you. You intrigued me. I was bored."

Rey frowned for a second before making an offended sniff.

"Bored. How lovely. Such a romantic admission of apathy at first sight."

Kylo only shrugged. He flipped his hand over to link their fingers together.

"I just assumed that you were someone my uncle had hired to depose of me in some way. Or maybe hired by one of my apparently limitless enemies to lure away from the throne and then kill. Turns out you nearly succeeded with both."

His tone was light and jesting, but Rey's face immediately crumpled. She knew he didn't mean to be cruel but-

"I'm sorry."

He brought their linked hands to his lips and kissed each one of her knuckles. Rey pressed her lips together, biting down hard on the inside of them to keep from letting out the tears that had been brewing for so many days now.

"I was _never_ against you, Kylo," she finally managed to say. "People tried to kill you, the whole world tried, but..."

She thought for a long moment about how to end that. Kylo continued to play with her hand, now taking to lightly biting at her fingertips to keep her attention.

Rey inhaled an exhaled, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself before she continued.

It had been five days now, or at least she thought so. She was beginning to go stir-crazy and desperate, but at least she had also managed to get the reluctant Fel doctor's name. Oheneia. Rey was quite sure she had yet to pronounce it properly despite her best efforts.

"Kylo."

She opened her eyes and failed to pull her hand away as he began to kiss along the edge of her thumb.

" _Kyl_ _o_ , I'm on your side now more than ever. Do you know that?"

His persistent pawing at her stilled. When he looked up at her there was a challenge in his eyes. Still he refused to let her hand go, instead now pulling at her arm until she had no choice but to flop sideways down on her elbow.

"Prove it."

His other hand traced her cheek, cradling her face. Rey closed her eyes for just a second to bask in this moment. He was alive. Warm to her touch. Feeling better enough to be annoying again.

"I thought all three of us would die out in the desert," she whispered. "You. Me. Dala. It was so horrible."

He pulled her into a chaste kiss. There was a slight stiffness to his movements and Rey knew with certainty that he was still in no small amount of pain but was trying to hide from her.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "This was my fault."

Rey huffed humorlessly. The position Kylo had twisted her into was highly uncomfortable, but she could stand it for a good while longer.

"It was," she agreed. "It really, really was."

Kylo laughed and kissed her a second time. Today he was very affectionate. Very clingy. He had pouted whenever she had to leave even if it was only for the short time to go to her bedroom across the hall to retrieve a book to read to him.

However, the moment he tried to deepen their kiss beyond something purple innocent, Rey forced herself to pull away.

"Your beard's growing in," she mumbled, always at a loss for words around her husband but feeling a keen need to distract herself. "It's tickling me."

"Only for a moment."

Rey straightened, her back creaking in protest to being bent at odd angles. Kylo immediately caught her with placing his hand rather high on her lap. She frowned down at it. Did the man never stop? Truly?

"But I supposed you don't know what that means, do you?" he asked, his tone both playful and pained. "My dear, sweet, virginal wife."

Rey snatched his wrist, stopping his circular latest groping before it could proceed any further.

" _Kylo_ , you nearly died."

He grunted, trying to push himself up to embrace her from behind. Rey immediately turned, pressing her palm to his shoulder to hold him back down. Then the deviousness of his plan revealed itself when his his hand found her backside and give her a highly rude pinch.

His confident smirk lasted a heartbeat before his face suddenly reddened and the offending hand fell away.

"Doctor," he greeted, settling back down.

Rey winced, scrunching her face up tight as she straightened again and looked back behind them.

Oheneia took a step forward into the room, her medical bag in hand. Blessedly her heavily concealed face hid whatever disapproval she no doubt held for the scene she had walked in on.

"Bandages," was all she said.

Oh yes, there it was. The slight tone of reprimand. Oheneia had been very clear before that Kylo was expected to move as little as possible so as to not set back his recovery, though this latest bought of flirtatious gymnastics was hardly Rey's fault.

Kylo lightly patted Rey's back and she fought the urge to swat at him.

"Time to get all clean and pretty for my wife."

Rey nodded, leaving to go fetch a pail of warm water for the doctor then give her husband privacy.

* * *

Rey had already begun to get a little more familiar with the Xa caves.

She had gone back to that beautiful waterfall room often. It was her own way of counting the days. Watching for the glow of dawn or sunset and the spaces of night and day between as they played out high above her head. It was oddly comforting, even though time seemed to flow so slowly down here below the surface.

Two more days passed in a similar way. Rey would spend most of her husband's waking moments by his side. Talking to him, reading to him, getting groped by him. He was certainly growing stronger and healing well, the Fel doctor knew her craft.

Amusingly, the doctor would also insist that Rey leave her husband's side for a few hours every night after she'd changed his bandages so he could _get some proper rest._ Clearly she'd figured out Kylo was getting restless and Rey was a distraction simply by being in his line of sight.

That gave her the perfect opportunity to explore. Master Luke had asked her not to, but the Fel didn't seem to mind. Or they watched her silently, not making a move to stop her. Perhaps that was a more accurate description, and Rey chose to interpret it as invitation enough.

Then her old master had become conspicuously absent. The doors leading up to the Hesitance's side of the cave were locked up tight, and Rey noticed that there seemed to be fewer and fewer Fel about as she took her daily walks. When she pressed Oheneia about it she simply was given the answer that 'they were being called away'.

She knew they must be close to the ocean. She could smell an edge of salt to the air sometimes, and the early mornings of her viewing would have a thick blanket of fog that would spill down through the opening in the rocks. It never quite reached as far as the waterfall room she'd asked Mater Luke about it and he'd confirmed they were "a short two days journey from the sea" though he refused to give her any further details about the exact location of the Resistance's secret base.

Something was happening. The Resistance was likely gathering their forces for whatever their plan was, and Rey wondered if Alderaan's General was also making his play to power. And all of this was going on without them, despite Rey's husband truly being at the center of it all.

Another day passed quietly, until Rey returned from another hour of gazing at the darkening sky and found him standing there, her old Master. Luke was waiting patiently outside Kylo's door, and his expression was unreadable as ever when Rey approached meekly.

"The doctor is with him now," was all he said.

Rey nodded. She waited, expecting to be chastised for straying from their designated little corridor. Luke remained silent, however, and Rey's patience quickly fluttered.

"Where have you been?" she asked, stepping closer. "We've been down here eight days now, and I haven't seen you for three. What's going on?"

Master Luke looked from her to Kylo's door then back to her again.

"A great deal," he finally said. "Events are underway, and I'm doing my every effort to prevent bloodshed that now feels almost inevitable. I need to speak to my nephew, and it's been six days, not eight."

Rey swallowed.

"Has it?"

"Yes."

Time didn't even seem real anymore. Not down here when only brief glances at the color of the sky and her body's own natural rhythms were all she had to go on.

The door opened and the doctor hesitated before stepping out to join them. Luke took a step closer and spoke quietly to her in a language Rey didn't understand. Irritation prickled along her skin at being left out of their brief conversation, but the doctor left after only a few sentences had been spoken.

"Master?"

"Ben will likely be recovered enough to be able to be moved soon," Luke answered. He put his hand on the door handle before pausing and looking back at her. "Rey, come in with me for this. I haven't spoken to my nephew in my many years."

She hugged her arms around herself, a knot of tension itching between her shoulders.

"You want me to be a buffer."

He nodded. "Please."

Rey hesitated, before tipping her head in assent. The last thing she wanted was her husband's short temper to rear up and he do something foolish like hurting his wound again, but this likely was going to be a powerfully unpleasant family reunion.

Still, she made a point of going inside first.

* * *

"So Hux has announced I'm dead, killed by General Kamen during our stay with the caravan, and now he's trying to start a war with the Northbound Lands to - _ahem_ \- avenge me." Kylo nodded thoughtfully as he mulled it over. "You have to hand it to Hux. Sure he's one smarmy, uptight karker, but that's a damned fine plan if you think about it."

He leaned against the edge of the table next to his bed, his posture a show of casual indifference, but Rey could see the subtle shake to his muscles from the effort of standing.

When she had first come inside he had been putting on his boots. Boots that he had gotten up by himself to fetch then walked back to his bed to put on.

Rey had snapped immediately, berating him that Oheneia had ordered him to move as little as possible. He'd had the nerve to tell her that he was going out to find her because _he'd missed her._

Then he'd seen Master Luke behind her and the conversation had turned passive aggressively hostile faster than Rey could blink.

"I see you're feeling better now Ben," Luke answered. "I'm glad for it."

" _Don't_."

Kylo's grip was starting to turn white knuckled against the table's edge and Rey immediately stepped forward and drew back the top blanket on his bed for him. He ignored her completely, choosing instead to continue his pointless antagonism against his uncle.

"I'm surprised you've gone to so much trouble for me, _Skywalker,"_ _he spat_ _. "_ I'd been wondering if I'd died and gone to heaven to be with my wife, but then you walked in and threw that idea away just like you had with me long ago."

Rey fidgeted, again trying to subtly indicate for Kylo to _sit the kark down_ before he collapsed. Turned out anger was a better incentive than self respect.

"I had wanted to wait for you to recover before I told you about the current events, Ben," Luke persisted. "Your mother's ship has been delayed by a late season storm, but it will arrive at port in a few day's time. We believe that Hux will use that as the trigger to claim the Alderaan throne for himself."

Kylo scoffed, his too-pretty face distorting itself into a pained sneer.

"But not if your Resistance makes their move first. I suppose you've got this all figured out already haven't you, Skywalker?"

Rey glanced quickly between the two men. Kylo looked infuriated and Master Luke… well he had that stoic, aloof expression that she had come to know meant he was culling his feelings.

"I never wanted the throne for myself," Luke said carefully. "Your mother knew that and I know you do too."

"Don't you dare try to tell me what I think."

Kylo growled it, forcing the words out through his tightly clenched teeth as he shoved away from the table to stalk forward. The pain of each step was clear and Rey tried to stop him but he immediately pushed he back. Master Luke straightened but didn't so much as blink despite how greatly Rey's furious husband towered over him.

"Get out," he spat. "Get out and don't come back. You should have let me die out there in the desert and save yourself the trouble of trying to ease your conscience."

Finally Master Luke frowned. He dropped his head, his greyed brows pulling together.

"Ben, please-" he began, but he was immediately cut off.

"Get out!" Kylo shouted, taking another shaking step closer. "Get out before I throw you out no, and don't doubt for a moment that I will no matter how much it costs me."

Before Master Luke could answer Kylo wavered slightly, his legs starting to buckle underneath him. Rey dashed to his good side immediately, tucking herself under his arm to hold him up. The fact that Kylo didn't protest her assistance told her volumes about who much this was taxing him.

"Please go," she pleaded to her Master. "We can talk about this another time."

Luke held her gaze for a long moment before nodding and taking a step back.

"Later," he agreed.

She felt the low growl rumble through Kylo's chest and she held on tighter as more of his weight settled against her.

Luke paused when he was halfway out the doorway. He took a moment to clear his throat before speaking whatever was weighing on his mind.

"Ben," he said, "Rey had spoken to me about her wish for an annulment. I think- I would like you to consider honoring her request. She was always an innocent party to all of this, and it's only right that you give her her life back."

Then the door shut behind him and the silence was so deafening Rey could hear her own heartbeat pounding against her chest.

A beat passed, then Kylo lifted his arm from around her and stepped back. She started to turn to help him but he shoved her, his palm noticeably clammy against the back of her shoulders.

"Ben, I didn't mean it like _that_. Uncle Luke completely misunderstood-"

"Don't call me that _ever_. Don't call him that either, but certainly not me."

Kylo limped over to the bed, and his body collapsed against it with such force the whole frame shook. Rey immediately tried to rush over to him to check if that stupid move hadn't torn open his side, but he insolently turned his back to her.

"Kylo."

Her voice caught. He yanked the blanket out of her hand as she tried to draw it over him.

"I'm rather tired, darling wife," he snapped, his voice ragged around the edges. "I think I should like a full night's sleep alone."

Rey reached out to rub his shoulder and apologize but hesitated at the last moment. Her husband's pettiness was unlike any others. It hurt terribly that he simply took Luke's words at face value, but Rey also knew that there would be no point in trying to reason with him when he was petulant to the point of self destruction like this.

But he hadn't even given her a chance. He'd just _assumed._

Rey pulled back then, walking quietly to the door. She would need to find the doctor and have her check him. He shouldn't have been moving at all let alone… any of the rest of that.

"Goodnight," she offered before she left.

No answer. Petulant. Obnoxious. Husband-child.

Rey sighed before closing the door. She didn't even know what the mattress in her own room felt like, but apparently she was going to find out.

Just…

Gods karking _d_ _amnit_ Luke…

* * *

Author's note:

Next chapter is probably just going to be our cantankerous duo getting frisky, lol. Gotta have that makeup fun, right? ;)

comment replies

cdknelson – Thank you! The Arabian Nights was a huge inspiration for this story of course! I'm so glad you like it! :D

benfan1 - Oooh, glad you liked this chapter! Thank you for commenting!

kaelmona – Lots going on behind the scenes now, more than Rey knows but she's soon to find out! Thanks for commenting!

Paul Lenzen - Heh, well… this last update took me a month but with pretty good reason! Thanks for sticking with it and commenting!

ldsrsc - Lol, wellllllll… this last chapter. So… yeah!

RedPandaMiko – I'm gonna finish, I promise! It just may take me a good long while! Thanks for commenting!

Anon - Glad to hear you enjoyed this story! Thanks for commenting!

Hobbitpony1 - Yes, Kylo/Ben is just one big ol romantic softie. With a hardie ;) Thanks for commenting!

1Hurricane – Well welcome aboard to this story! Super glad to have you here and thanks very much for commenting!

FranQuel - Thank you for commenting! I don't get very many readers in other languages. i'm happy you've been enjoying this story so far, and I think you will like the ending I have in mind too!

ToughSpirit - He's better alright! Better enough to go back to being a pain in the ass, lol! Thanks for commenting!

FourShot411 - Ahh yes, the harem! I caught some heat for that for sure, but I think it fit with the world I wanted to build. Both our main characters have grown a lot since those first chapters too! Thanks very much for commenting!


	30. You Can't Have it Both Ways

Chapter Summary

Where our duo do what they do best, Rey wields a knife on Kylo then starts to make a mess in her pants, and Doctor Oheneia is probably extremely grateful she knocked first before opening the door.

Rey's bed was cold, uncomfortable, and her husband wasn't in it with her.

She didn't even try to sleep. Not that it would have come to her if she had, but her mind refused to silence itself.

Luke… just… shove off. You threw me at your nephew, you've done enough. Now kindly don't muddle yourself into our affairs anymore.

Except they also needed her old master's help. He was the liaison between them and the outside world. The Resistance was plotting, the General was devising, and quite soon Kylo would need to make a decision in where he fell within all of that before the choice was made for him.

On that note- one of need and wholeheartedly embracing the spirit of reconciliation, Rey gave up tossing and turning and went to her husband's door. The hallway between their bedrooms was silent and dim, with only a sing lantern burning at either far end of it. That likely meant it was daylight up above them, for the Fel kept opposite hours to the surface and were far more active during the night.

Rey thought about knocking on the door but then thought against it. When had her hard-headed husband ever extended her that courtesy? The door wasn't locked at least, she'd been wondering, and softly muted light spilled out when she opened it to slip inside.

Several hours had gone by since she last spoke to him, and Kylo was still awake and upright. He was sitting on the edge of his bed and the book Rey had been reading to him was resting unopened on his lap. He neither looked up nor said anything when she closed the door behind her and padded softly barefoot over to his side.

"Let's not fight anymore, Kylo," she said quietly. "You very nearly died then came back from the dead so let this be a new start for us. One where we don't fight with each other every day and about every thing."

He refused to look up from his gaze's spot on the floor, but one of his dark eyebrows rose slightly to her statement.

"Such a treaty of civility wouldn't last long between us," he said. "It never does."

Rey sighed and repressed a shiver. The floor was cold and she should have worn shoes, but she'd secretly hoped to just crawl right into bed with him and it wouldn't have mattered.

"You're likely right," she agreed. "But let us try anyhow. A new start. A new clean page turned over for the two of. Deal?"

She lifted one of her hands up and brought it into his line of sight. Kylo tipped his head but didn't take it.

"And how long would this _deal_ last, my darling? How long until you force me to either honor my promise to let you go or I have to prove myself a liar and make you forever resent me?"

"Gods, Kylo."

She sat down next to him, leaning closer than she normally would sit. She tried to take his hand in her own but he obstinately refused to cooperate.

"I don't want to end our marriage."

Yet. Or ever. Maybe. Why did she have to decide now? Couldn't things just happen as they would happen and fate would decide on itself?

"I think," Kylo paused, tipping his head and seeming to consider his next words more carefully than he normally would. "I think it must have been very difficult for you being married to me. I keep thinking back to the things I would have done differently. All the mistakes I'd try and alter during the short course of our marriage. Honestly though? The answer was very little of them. In fact, there's only one thing at all from our short time together that I would change if I could."

Rey waited for a few breaths, then grew impatient and dragged Kylo's hand off his lap to hold with her own.

"Not getting stabbed in the stomach by some kriffing poker players to get money we didn't even need?"

Kylo huffed. He shook his head and smiled slightly.

"See? _That_ would have been a good husband's answer," he said. "No, Rey, that was fine. I probably deserved it. What I wish I'd never done was tell you that you could ever walk away from me."

He turned his head to look at her, and his hand shifted to wrap across the top of her own. He squeezed surprisingly hard.

"No."

It was all he said and his tone was clear and concise. Rey swallowed, a lump building in her throat from the look in his eyes.

"Kylo-"

"My answer is _no_ , Rey. No, I'm not divorcing you or giving you an annulment. I know that I promised I would and so now you know you're married to a liar. Maybe _that_ should be the new page of our book together. A husband that can't be trusted and a wife that doesn't want to be there."

Indignation and pity both warred within her, but Rey opted to respond with neither.

"You said that-"

"I know what I said, Rey. Back then I meant it. Now I don't anymore. We're staying married and you have no say it that. You can run away and I may chase you or maybe I won't, but you're going to stay my wife and you'll _never_ marry another."

He spoke the words with a soft conviction Rey fell still, trying to sift through her emotions. She held her breath as a feeling other than anger rose to the surface above everything else.

Acceptance. His to her and hers to him. She knew she should have been livid, but somehow what he said made her _happy_.

Rey almost smiled. Nearly.

"Get rid of them," she finally whispered. "Your other wives. I never wanted to divorce you, I wanted you to get rid of them."

She finally met her husband's eyes again. He was subtly cringing, as if he'd expected a much different outburst at his proclamation.

"Skywalker said-"

"You have the power to do it, Kylo." She turned to face him fully, catching both of his hands in her own "Annul them. Divorce them. Send them away. _Get rid of them._ "

Rey punctuated every one of the last four words with a grit of her teeth and a bite of her fingernails into the flesh of his palms.

Kylo hesitated before answering. He opened his mouth slightly but didn't speak, and Rey's eyes fell for a second too long to his lips.

"Is that really what was bothering you this whole time?" he asked.

Rey's eyes widened then. She sputtered, lost for the millionth time in the thought o _f how karking clueless could he really be?_

"Of. Course. Kylo, godsdamnit, I- I just- why the bloody hell do you think you can get it both ways?!"

She wrenched her hands free and shoved away from him, trying to stumble to her feet but he caught one of her wrists. When she tried to pull free he made a pained grunt of effort and she stopped.

When she looked back he was giving her a forlorn puppy dog look and Rey's shoulders slumped, some of the sudden burst of tension disappointing at the proof of how much of a nerf-header he really was.

"That was a cheap move," she huffed.

Kylo nodded.

"I know."

He tugged lightly on her wrist and Rey let herself be guided back down next to him.

For a while they sat together in silence. Whatever Kylo was thinking he was keeping to himself. Rey tried not to feel anything in particular. Tried to ignore how hard her heart started to pound the longer he didn't answer to her request.

It wasn't until she started to pull away again that he hugged her from behind, his face burying in her hair and making her next breath hitch.

"Most of my marriages are for political alliances, Rey," he finally said. "If I- breaking them would have serious ramifications. But I don't think it's those unions that bother you, is it?"

His head dipped, his lips lightly skimming across Rey's bare shoulder. She was only wearing her simply night slip dress and yet somehow his close physical proximity didn't make her feel as cold as she had only moments before.

Still, she absolutely couldn't let herself get distracted by her husband's… familiarity./Not this time.

"Most of them," she repeated. "But not all. What of the others then? The _other wives_ that you chose for yourself to marry? What of them?"

Rey didn't bother trying to hide the jealous snarl from her voice. On a conceptual level she knew that political unions by marriage grew more common the higher up someone was within the royal court, but Kylo was right. _Those_ weren't the ones that had kept at war with herself for this whole time.

Kylo nodded, resting more of his weight against her shoulder and trying to pull her closer to him. He was doing that trick again. The one where he'd distract her by any means necessary.

"Speak, Kylo. Answer."

She snapped the fingers of her free hand through the air in front of his face. She felt him swallow against her shoulder before he pulled himself back only very slightly.

"There were some I'd chosen myself for reasons that don't matter to me anymore," he admitted.

Rey glared at the gently flickering lights of the lantern on the far wall.

"And those reasons were?"

"I was young and foolish. I thought they were pretty. I didn't think of it any further beyond that. Now I don't think of them hardly at all since I've met you."

Rey frowned, shooting him an unimpressed scowl.

"We've been married less than a month, Kylo."

"A lot can happen in a month, Rey. Are you the same person you were when we first met? On our wedding day?"

Again a low blow. Rey wrinkled her nose, trying to will herself to be wholly unaffected.

"Do you care about them?"

Kylo kissed her shoulder and Rey's heart stuttered in expectation. He answered immediately.

"No."

He tried to kiss her neck and Rey bent her head away, dodging him.

"At all? Not even a little?"

Kylo paused, his brow pulling together as he thought about her question. Rey watched him from the edge of her vision, unable to fully face him.

"No," he finally answered, a slight lift of surprise to his voice as if he'd only now just come to that conclusion for himself. "I don't care about any of my other wives. Not in the way I know you mean. Sure, many of them I have in some sort of ephemeral sense of _I wish them well_. But do I actually care about any of them? No, Rey. I don't believe that I do."

His hands slid up and down her arms, trying to sooth her. Rey tried not to think about how they felt against her skin. How her husband always seemed to make her warm even when the air was cold.

"The way I see it, Rey," he continued, "we have two options. I can go back and fight for my birthright. Reclaim the crown my mother gave to me. I will- I can _send away_ those wives you find the most objectionable, and the rest that I have to keep you'll simply have to ignore and trust me that they hold to attachment to me or me to them."

Rey twisted slightly to face him better. Her eyes scanned his face, unsure of what she was really looking for. His growing beard captured her attention and, after a moment's hesitation, she gave in and reached out to stroke it. Kylo's eyes fell half closed and he leaned into her touch.

"And the other option?" she asked.

He lifted his head and stared at her for a long moment. Then he shrugged.

"The other option is that the world is about to think I'm dead. The late Prince of Alderaan had many wives. Commoner Kylo Ren, on the other hand, only has the one."

Rey blinked. He'd thought about that, clearly. Oddly, she hadn't, even though she'd thought about almost everything else regarding this obstacle between them.

She swallowed and her voice came out as a raspy wisp.

"I married a prince," she reminded him. "If you're just a commoner than our wedding didn't count."

Kylo's eyes lit up at that. Rey's heart twisted, shards of painful joy working their way through her at seeing him look so karking _alive_.

"Do you want me to get down on one knee, darling?" he offered. "I'll do it happily right now, though I should think I'd need some help getting back up off the floor."

Rey smiled, shaking her head in mock exasperation. He'd do it, too. She knew that he would.

She let him kiss her, though, and that was all the answer to that nonsense that he was going to get tonight.

* * *

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Shaved a man's face? Certainly not."

"But I bet you're good with a knife, Rey. And you don't really want to kill me, you just make a lot of fluff pretending that you do."

"Hmmm..."

Rey didn't bother dignifying her husband's statement with more than a impassive hum. Truth be told, she was trying to delay things. After their latest truce, Kylo had asked her to help him shave his rapidly progressing stubble situation. On the surface it might have seemed like a perfectly reasonable and innocent request. Then he started making it into something more.

First off, he refused to sit upright for it. Rey had seen the barbers on the street side shops shaving their customers faces and it had seemed pretty straightforward. Kylo was being difficult. He insisted on laying back because he was _just so tired_. Then he had insisted that she couldn't stand and lean over him because she wouldn't be able to get the right angles.

So all in all, this simple act of grooming had become an excuse for her husband demand she straddle him. With his injury, that meant she either had to sit dangerously high up on his chest with her legs practically wrapped around his shoulders, or she had to sit in his lap. Rey had chosen the latter and now had to stay focused despite her husband's clear enthusiasm making itself evident against her rump.

"Stop moving," she told him for what felt like the hundredth time. "You're squirming too much."

Despite her husband's assumptions about her knife skills, Rey felt highly uncomfortable with every swipe of the straight razor she made against his skin. And highly uncomfortable about other things as well.

"Sorry," he hummed, tipping his head up to let her access the side of his jaw. "I keep getting distracted. It's so nice to have my _wife_ take care of me for the remaining duration of our marriage."

Rey pulled the blade back to glare down at him.

"Kylo."

"Beloved?"

"Are you going to behave yourself?"

He sigh dramatically, making a show of slumping back with a pained grunt. The one second of sympathy that may have earned him was shattered when his hand sneakily shifted to cradle her hip and hold her more snugly against him.

"Always," he breathed, his hand sliding lower.

Rey swallowed, her grip on the slim metal handle wavering slightly as her pulse spiked. Despite the three layers of fabric separating their- separating _them_ , Rey could still feel the hard ridge of her husband's flesh pressed firmly between her thighs. If his goal was to have her slit his throat by accident of distraction, he was doing a marvelous job of it.

"Stop that."

She didn't clarify specifically what she meant, but Kylo's soft grin and wink told her volumes. He could have done this himself. The doctor could have done this for him. But no, he chose Rey to assist him and she had to reluctantly admit she was as guilty as he was for playing along.

She dipped the straight edge in the bowl of cooling water and feather-lightly caught his chin to turn his head to the other side. For a few passes he remained quiet and well- behaved, then his hand on her rump abruptly squeezed.

"Kylo!" Rey flinched the knife back immediately, glaring at him again. "I bloody well should think that you'd know better when you're in such a vulnerable position."

His hand tried to shift, tried to slide more under her to fondle her in a highly lewd manner, and Rey had no choice press herself firmer against his lap to avoid his wandering touch.

"Vulnerable?" he asked. "Yes I am, Rey. Vulnerable, pinned under my wife, and completely at her mercy. Tell me, darling, what is one of the criteria for that annulment you seek?"

He knew perfectly well that she hadn't meant- well he knew perfectly well the answer to his own damned question so Rey certainly wasn't about to fall for his bait.

"Kylo, you're impossible. Now hold still so I can finish."

Her hands moved to the last last area of stubble but her husband broke out into a wide grin that thwarted her task.

"If it wasn't for this little bit of fabric between us, Rey, the point would be moot. We're practically _un_ enullable right now, aren't we?"

It was impossible not to have any sort of physical reaction to her husband grinding against her. Or, technically, her husband grinding her against _him_. Rey started to feel a little lightheaded as desire began to bloom in her, and she hastened to complete her project so she could take flight and a cold sponge bath.

"I didn't _ask_ for anything unbinding," she told her tersely. "I simply made inquiries of it to Uncle Luke and-"

Kylo interrupted her with a loud shush.

"Maybe don't call _my_ uncle your uncle, darling? Or perhaps people would begin to talk."

Rey rolled her eyes, trying to find enough anger or at least irritation to focus on and not how Kylo's other hand was now skimming along the sides of her waist.

"That tickles," she scolded softly.

Finally finished, she set the straight edge down on the table and swiped the rest of the lotion from his face with a bath towel.

"Sometime I'll grow out a proper beard and show you what _really_ tickles."

He'd threatened her with that lewdness before, and Rey simply shook her head and attempted to untangle herself from his grip. Every time she'd try and remove his hands from herself he'd shift his grip, creating a veritable game of tag across her body.

"In a hurry to leave, darling?" he teased.

Rey started to squirm harder, started to wriggle free, when he made an abrupt pained yelp and she stilled immediately.

"Did you fake that?"

Kylo shook his head, his dark hair swooshing against his pillow and his brows pulled tight. Rey hesitated, unsure of if to believe him or not, and both his hands circled her waist to hold her more firmly against him.

"Darling," he whispered, his voice low and strained.

Actually, that sounded more like a moan than a whisper. Rey's cheeks immediately heated.

"Let me go, Kylo."

She lightly slapped at his hands and his pain filled grimace only creased.

" _Neve_ _r_."

Oh, that-

Rey rolled her eyes. She tried to wriggle further down his body to safely get away from his injury before she fought in earnest for her freedom. Kylo only bucked up, lewdly humping against her despite the sheet between them.

"Hell bent on running away are you? My sweet wife?"

His hands shifted, one of them knotting into the loose fabric at the back of her nightgown. The other slid up, cupping and cradling her right breast. This was all acceleration so quickly and Rey's head was spinning almost as fast as her pulse was racing.

"I think I should better," she gasped. "The doctor will be-"

"Very cross if I should tear my stitches pleasuring my wife? Yes, I should imagine she would be. All worth it for the sake of ensuring an _annulment_ is no longer an option."

Before Rey could protest, his hand slid down under her neckline to palm her breast skin on skin. A whole body shudder gripped Rey, her back unconsciously arching into his touch.

"Kylo!" _We can't_ she'd meant to say, but he began to roll her pebbled nipple between his fingers and for a few moments she forgot how to speak at all.

With a pleased smirk he tried to sit up, his focus falling heavily on her bared chest. However that move must have been genuinely too much for him and he contented himself with falling back and working her with his hands.

It was only when Rey felt his other palm begin to slide up along her thigh, dragging the fabric of her skirt along with it, that she collected herself enough to grab his wrist and stop him.

"The doctor!" she cried weakly. "I can hear her coming!"

Kylo paused for a breath, then his grin grew along with the total silence from the hall outside.

"Is she now, darling? And so what? Afraid that she'll hear _you_ coming?"

Embarrassingly Rey didn't think she was that far from exactly that. Somehow within the span of only a few minutes of her husband's dedicated touch he had her panting and writhing against him, her body desperately craving something she had only experienced once before.

"More?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but she nodded, her eyes drifting closed. His warm palm shifted to her other breast, giving it the same sweet attention after being neglected for so long. The hand that was on her thigh pulled away to settle on her hip and he began to rock her against him.

Rey gave in. Tired of fighting him and fighting this. She leaned forward, letting him dry hump her through their layers of clothing. She awkwardly held onto his shoulders, watching closely for any sign that she was aggravating his wound. If she was, he hid it well, and the grinding of their bodies together only increased in both pace and friction.

Rey whimpered, feeling exceptionally slick and debauched. She started to rock back, her hips rising and falling along with Kylo's in a manner that seemed to be instinct-born.

"Well look at you," he hummed appreciatively, "you're a natural. If it weren't for this sheet between us I'd be inside you right now."

 _Gods!_ Rey didn't think she could feel any hotter- or closer- but his words were nearly her undoing. That and the low tones of his voice had her trembling, their lower halves beginning to move slightly erratically against each other.

Then a knock came from the door and they both froze mid-hump. Rey's eyes widened. She mouthed _'did you'_ and the knock came again. The door handle turned and Rey leapt off Kylo, her movement feather light and her legs feeling like a soft pudding that could collapse under her at any moment.

Doctor Oheneia paused two steps into the room to regard them. She looked first at Rey who luckily was still fully clothed but she didn't doubt her cheeks were practically glowing. Then the Doctor's gaze turned to Kylo and she frowned, a gloved hand reaching out to gesture at him.

"What's that?" she asked.

Rey turned back to see that he had- well he had concealed himself with the apparently the first thing he could reach which was the basin of washing water. It was resting on his lap and water was splashed all around him on the bed.

"Um… Rey was shaving my face," he offered. "I had asked her to."

Oheneia looked from him to Rey then back again, her expression growing more disapproving by each breath.

"He needs to rest," she told her.

Rey nodded, trying to subtly smooth out her nightgown in an effort to look more presentable.

Oheniea's eyes narrowed slightly and she stepped to the side, gesturing at the open door behind her.

"Four hours," she told Rey. "Please."

Er… yes. Rey nodded, avoiding the Fel's gaze as she hurried away and the door closed behind her.

Well that was plenty awkward, wasn't it?

* * *

Author's note:

Not a lot of plot in this chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it anyhow! I'll try to get the plot rolling soon, just been distracted by… well, all of that going on out there (gestures out the window). We're currently on incarceration day seventeen in my country. Seventeen. One seven. Yeah. Just. I want to hibernate until 2021 and see if the world sucks less then, who's with me?

* * *

Comment replies:

Paul Lenzen – Yeah, ch29 and this latest one are both kinda short. I've got like zero ability to focus right now, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting!

Hobbitpony1 – Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

TristanMon – Latest lover's quarrel resolved in less than a week, for me that's pretty good! Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting :)

benfan1 – Thank you! I'm glad you're sticking with this story and enjoying it!

Ldsrsc – Haha, that's actually not too far from what Rye did say, only with more dry humping afterwards ;) Thanks for commenting!

LittleMissMarie10 – Lol, Rey's thought the same thing about her husband more than a few times, and in a few different terms! Thanks for commenting!

1Hurricane – Oh thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this story and thank you for commenting!

Redstar96 – I'm so glad this story brightened up your day! I hope you liked this latest chapter too! Thanks so much for commenting!

Cdknelson – Ah Luke, he had such perfect timing didn't he? In his own way he only thought he was helping, but really he just made things worse all over again! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter though & thanks so much for commenting!


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